CYANOTYPE / GARDEN PICKINGS

Cyanotype is a printing process that was discovered in 1842 and uses a light-sensitive iron complex, a mixture of two chemicals, that are exposed to UV light. One of the first people to adopt this technique was Anna Atkins, who published the first-ever photographic illustrated book called The book of Algae. She is a pioneering figure in photographic history. Usually, it is exposed on paper, but as a thread creep I had to see how it works on fabric. I love embroidery and cyanotypes have such strong roots in the antiquated.

This is something I’ve wanted to play with for months and have had the chemicals stored away, waiting for my attention. I finally got playing and made this little experiment. I used floche for the stitches for its fine soft feel.