A Beautiful Fragility

With love comes a beautiful fragility

For this cyanotype I have used hydrangea petals at different stages of decay. The petals that appear white in the picture have been dried and pressed and are pale white in colour. The other petals have begun to decay, leaving just the skeletal structure of the petals veins, these have also been dried and pressed. Even exposed to the harsh elements these delicate petals have maintained their structure. They are both fragile and strong.

Process of making the cyanotype

The images above show the process of exposure. The areas less exposed to the sun appear darker and the areas exposed to the suns UV light appear lighter, until placed in water. In the final image on the bottom right the print has been placed in a water bath and the areas that have not been exposed to UV become light, while the areas that have been exposed to UV light turn blue.

The image above on the left shows the print after its final water rinse, all yellow has been removed. The image on the right is the print hanging up to dry, the blue will become darker over 24 hours.

'A Beautiful Fragility' -2017

Cyanotype on paper