Botanical Printing with Cyanotype in the Garden

Join Central Print at the 13th Street Community Garden to make your own botanical specimen book with cyanotype. We'll have a pre-coated accordion book for you, and all you have to do is collect your specimens from around the garden. We will help you compose and print your images in the sun.

Cyanotype is one of the first photographic techniques, developed in 1842. A light sensitive mixture is brushed on paper, and produces a dark blue color when exposed to sunlight, which is how these images also came to be known as “blueprints.” Anna Atkins, a Victorian botanist, was one of the first women photographers. She used the cyanotype process to print a book of plant specimens by capturing their silhouettes with cyanotype. Her book, “Photographs of British Algae,” was the first photographic book ever produced!

Saturday, June 1st

11am-1:30pm

Instructor: Kristen Lyle

Fee: $55.00

Kristen Lyle’s background in the social sciences and community organizing informs an interest in letterpress as an art practice, and a communication tool that can build community by amplifying ideas. Kristen uses both digital and handmade techniques to make artwork, and believes the physicality of creating printed work with historical tools offers an opportunity to slow down and consider intention, and then to disseminate information and ideas through the making of multiples. In addition to creating art, Kristen enjoys teaching various print techniques and getting folks excited about starting their own print journey.