Kristine Paulus is the Collection Development Librarian at the LuEsther T. Mertz Library.

One of the many perks of working at the New York Botanical Garden is being able to register for some of the fabulous courses offered through NYBG’s Continuing Education program. I recently took advantage of this benefit by taking the Cyanotype Workshop: Making Pictures with Plants class taught by renowned photographer Bryan Whitney.

Cyanotype is a camera-less photographic printing technique. The process involves coating paper, fabric, or other naturally absorbent materials with a solution of iron salts. When the coated material has dried, an object, such as a leaf or flower, is pressed against it, which is then exposed to ultraviolet light (either sunlight or by using a light box or UV lamp). The exposed paper is rinsed with cold water, revealing a negative image of the object placed on the material. The resulting print is a cyanotype, with the areas exposed to light turning into a deep, cyan blue (or Prussian blue) background, caused by oxidization. It’s also called blueprinting, a term used for copying architectural drawings.

For the class here at NYBG, students brought in cuttings of houseplants, bouquets from florist shops, and plants from backyards and community gardens. We were also provided with plenty of plant material from the Education department. We alternated working outdoors to utilize light from the sun and when the sky turned cloudy, we used a portable lightbox that Bryan brought from his studio.

The cyanotype process was invented and named by English astronomer and polymath Sir John Herschel in 1842. Since color photography didn’t yet exist, cyanotypes provided some color to otherwise black and white images. The basic method hasn’t changed much since. Cyanotype was popularized by English botanist and photographer Anna Atkins. Atkins produced what is known as the first photographic illustrated book, Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, in 1843. By exposing algae specimens that she collected to light-sensitive paper, she not only documented important information about these “flowers of the sea,” but she also created beautiful compositions. While the Mertz Library doesn’t own a copy of this very rare book, we do have a number of books about Anna Atkins and her work, and about the cyanotype process.

Check out these Mertz Library books about Anna Atkins:

Atkins, Anna. 2023. Anna Atkins : Cyanotypes. Edited by Peter Walter and Benedikt Taschen. Famous first edition. Köln: Taschen.

Atkins, Anna, Larry J. Schaaf, Anne Dixon, Emily Walz, and Mike Ware. 2018. Sun Gardens : Cyanotypes by Anna Atkins. Edited by Joshua Chuang. New York, NY: The New York Public Library.

Robinson, Fiona. 2019. The Bluest of Blues : Anna Atkins and the First Book of Photographs. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers.

Check out these books about cyanotype:

Hamilton, Alexander. 2023. In Search of the Blue Flower : Alexander Hamilton and the Art of Cyanotype. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Ware, Mike, Science Museum (Great Britain), and National Museum of Photography, Film, and Television (Great Britain). 1999. Cyanotype : The History, Science and Art of Photographic Printing in Prussian Blue. London, Bradford [England]: Science Museum ; National Museum of Photography, Film & Television.

Check out these books about other nature printing processes:

DiNoto, Andrea, David Winter, and John Berens. 1999. The Pressed Plant : The Art of Botanical Specimens, Nature Prints, and Sun Pictures. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang.

Doughty, John F., and Sonja S. Larsen. 2008. Creating Art from Nature : How to Handprint Botanicals. [Winnipeg, Manitoba]: [Art Bookbindery].

Drawing Center (New York, N.Y.), Yale Center for British Art, and Princeton University Press. 2004. Ocean Flowers : Impressions from Nature. Edited by Carol Armstrong and M. Catherine de Zegher. New York, Princeton: Drawing Center ; Princeton University Press.

Fabri, Régine, Harry Willis Fleming, Nicole Hanquart, Naomi Hume, Jessica C. Linker, Adam Lowe, Harriet Rix, et al. 2022. Capturing Nature : 150 Years of Nature Printing. Edited by Matthew Zucker and Pia Östlund. Translated by Ellen Lapper, Kim Glassman, and Andrew Kerr-Jarrett. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press, a division of Chronicle Books LLC.

Fabbri, Malin, and Alternativephotography.com. 2012. Anthotypes : Explore the Darkroom in Your Garden and Make Photographs Using Plants. Stockholm: M. Fabbri, Alternativephotography.com.

Nature Printing Society. 2011. The Art of Printing from Nature : A Guidebook. [4th ed.]. [Place of publication not identified]: The Society.