CYanotypes
Who is Anna Atkins?
She was born in' Tonbridge, Kent, England in 1799. Her mother Hester Anne "didn't recover from the effects of childbirth " and died in 1800. Anna became close to her father John George Children, who was a scientist of many interests; for example, he was honoured by having the mineral childrenite and the Children's python, Antaresia childreni, named after him.ohn George Children and John Pelly Atkins were friends of William Henry Fox Talbot. Anna Atkins learned directly from Talbot about two of his inventions related to photography: the "photogenic drawing" technique (in which an object is placed on light-sensitized paper which is exposed to the sun to produce an image) and calotypes. Atkins was known to have had access to a camera by 1841.Some sources claim that Atkins was the first female photographer.Other sources name Constance Talbot, the wife of William Fox Talbot, as the first female photographer. As no camera-based photographs by Anna Atkinsor any photographs by Constance Talbot survive, the issue may never be resolved. |
Anna Atkins Cyanotypes |
Other famous cyanotypes
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Advantages of Cyanotypes
One advantage of Cyanotypes is it is very cheap and easy to make. Another is that when you do them right you can make some beautiful pictures,also Most mat papers will accept cyanotypes as will natural fibers in textiles. How to Make a Cyanotype 1. Choose some random objects. 2. Place them on cartridge paper (that has been put in a special chemical) 3.Leave in the sun until the paper goes grey 4. Once the paper has gone grey cover until you can put it in some water 5. wash all of the yellow off the paper 6.leave it to dry and then you have a beautiful picture |
My Cyanotypes
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I am really pleased with this picture because I really like how the rings in the image look 3D and have a shine on the outside of them. I also like how there is a faded shape near the original shape. I think there is a good amount of lines, shapes and tones in this image which has made this a successful image. I like how the tape is the main focus in this image and is surrounded by different shapes. EBI To make this photo better I would have prefferd there to not be a smudge on the tape, so I think the objects would have needed to stay still for longer. |
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I like how this one turned out because the shapes look really 3D and I like how you can see the rings leaning on the tape. I really like the perfect circle that the tape has made and how the paper has made a interesting shape in the corner. EBI To make this image better I think that I should have added some more shapes to make it more interesting. |