Cyanotypology

Of all the historic photo processes to emulate in the digital sphere, the cyanotype would seem to be among the easiest. But no. When doing a suite of 10 posters for Friends of Chamber Music’s 75th season I discovered that it requires a lot of tweaking, especially when you are scanning instrument parts with many tonal variations. Of course a true cyanotype would render, say, the cello bridge or piano mechanisms as largely white, outlined objects. But I wanted more detail so they ended up more like a cross between cyanotype and x-ray. And that’s what ate up all the photoshop time. That, and cyan tone matching after the fact. The dishtowel made a convincing background though, especially with an additional texture added via an outboard software that is no longer made. I probably should have just gone out with the bits and pieces, placed them on a piece of photochemical-treated paper and let the sun do the work!