The Passion of Former Days: cyanotypes

Showing posts with label cyanotypes. Show all posts

04 February, 2014

Indigo Agonies

Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952) was one of the first prominent female professional photographers in the United States, working mostly as a photojournalist and portrait photographer. The Library of Congress has about 20,000 of her prints and 3,700 thousand of her negatives, dating from the 1880s to 1940s (you can find the digitized photographs of the collection here).

This post focuses on just a portion of her early work, printed in cyanotype form. I'm not sure how often these cyanotype prints were intended as a final form, or if they were used purely as a proof prints or reference prints for negatives (as, for instance, these cyanotypes were). Some, it seems were put into personal books made by Johnston.

Most photographs were taken in or around Washington D.C.

Library of Congress

The cover of one of these personal books, and the source of the title, "Indigo Agonies", which is great. The book, made in 1888, is from Johnston's very earliest days as a photographer; she became a professional shortly afterwards. The photograph depicts Johnston at her camera (see second to last image in this post). Source

Library of Congress

Photograph of women being photographed, ca. 1890. Source

Library of Congress

Students sketching at the edge of a pond, about 1899. Source

The Smithsonian in Cyanotype

Early museum photography! Thomas William Smillie was the first official photographer at the Smithsonian in the late 19th century, documenting objects, activities, and exhibitions. As his photographs were mostly intended for use as reference, they were printed as cyanotypes, easy and cheap. The results, combining simple compositions with the deep Prussian blue of the cyanotype, have a striking beauty beyond their original purpose. Mostly circa 1890-1900, though Smillie worked at the Smithsonian until his death in 1917.

Smithsonian Institution

Glass slides hanging in a window. Source

Smithsonian Institution

Books. Source

Smithsonian Institution

Candlesticks. Source

Sweden in Blue

Cyanotype is a photographic printing process where the image is created not by silver, but by iron, resulting in a strong blue tint. While the process was invented in the 1840s, it was most popular at the end of the 19th century and early 20th. Since it's cheap and easy, it appealed especially to amateurs who could develop their own snapshots at home.

This set of cyanotypes comes from Swedish physician and amateur photographer Carl Curman (1833-1913), beautiful blue views of the country and its people at the end of the 20th century.