This print is an original cyanotype. Also known as sun printing, cyanotype printing is a camera-less photography technique which uses sunlight to capture an image. I use the same method that was used in the 1800's. You can see how it was made in the video link in the photos.
The print is not mounted or framed.
It was made by arranging layers of pittosporum branches separated by a sheet of glass on top of paper coated with a photosensitive emulsion. This was then exposed to sunlight before being washed to reveal the final image.
'How the sun saw it' is my new collection. The collection plays on the notion that cyanotypes are really the sun's interpretation of what is presented by the artist. The sun is outside the realm of my control. In making these prints I must give way to the fickleness of the sunlight and the meddling of the clouds. I stand aside as the warm rays gently examine the opacity and translucency of what I place before it. There is no right or wrong. No good or bad.
It is just how the sun saw it in that moment.
Cyanotypes are archival, meaning they will last for a really long time, but best displayed out of direct sunlight. If they do begin to fade over the years, you can place them in the dark for a week or two and, like magic, they will regain their full colour. In a way they are a living memory of what the sun saw in a given moment in time!
Please note that I retain copyright of this image and may use it to design products such as clothing, accessories and homewares.