I was thrilled to be awarded a RHS Gold Medal for my Portfolio Panel, that I submitted to this annual competition, which is on show at the Saatchi Gallery until July.
My Statement of Intent
Using the historical and alternative photographic process of Cyanotype, Summer garden plants have been recorded. The plants include Anemone hupehensis, Senecio cineraria, Salvia Coccinea, Pteridium aquilinum , and rosa Golden Wedding leaf.
In the early 19th century when Cyanotypes were first invented they were used by botanists and artists to create detailed, blue-toned images to document collections with great accuracy. In the technique used in my images, the chemicals, ferric ammonium citrate, potassium ferricyanide are mixed with turmeric, salt, bubbles and H2O and exposed in sunlight.
With my personal method, the detail and distinctive blue tone is absent, the added elements cause ‘interference’ which disrupts the reaction, the chemical interactions blur and soften the fresh botanicals creating differing hues and colour combinations. The wet cyanotypes are watched carefully during exposure until the optimum moment is reached, the botanicals are removed and prints washed, sometimes here the magic, of colours and tones can be lost. So the stages of the process are captured digitally, both before and after washing, then that transient magic can be recorded.
The images, captured, are processed through Lightroom and Photoshop, some cropped, Exposure and Colour Balance adjusted, where necessary, so creating a cohesive panel. Dodging and burning was used and dust spots removed to enhance the presentation.
The beauty, to me, of this alternative form of photographic image making, is the unknown journey travelled, every resulting image is unique and artistically creative working with nature and serendipity.