Cyanotype Workshop

Come and learn how to do one of the oldest photographic printing processes developed over180 years ago.

The English scientist and astronomer Sir John Herschel discovered the procedure in 1842. Though the process was developed by Herschel, he considered it as mainly a means of reproducing notes and diagrams, as in blueprints.

However It was Anna Atkins a botanist & photographer (who was a family friend of Herschel), that went on to create a series of cyanotype limited-edition books that documented ferns and other plant life from her extensive seaweed collection, placing specimens directly onto coated paper and allowing the action of light to create a silhouette effect. By using this photogram process, Anna Atkins is sometimes considered the first female photographer.