Cyanotype is among the earliest of photographic processes, and the examples of its use found in the Commons are all also early. Sir John Herschel invented the cyanotype in 1842, and Anna Atkins was its first active practitioner — and perhaps the first female photographer as well. The New York Public Library photograph below is among many of hers held at the NYPL and available in the Commons on Flickr.

You can read a basic description of the cyanotype process on Wikipedia . Mike Ware is among modern improvers on the process. The Flickr group Cyanotypes is devoted to new examples of this very old technique.

Himanthalia lorea (1843-53)

New York Public Library

Elevated view of the flooded river and West End, Brisbane, 1893

State Library of Queensland, Australia

People indoors, Lysekil, Sweden (1880s)

Swedish National Heritage Board

Jetties Beach, c. 1890s

Nantucket Historical Association

Finding cyanotypes — or photographs of any particular type or process — in the Commons, particularly as it grows larger, depends on terminology being in the photographs descriptions or tags … in the language you look for it in. If you’re browsing the Commons or commenting on a Commons photograph, take a moment to add search terms to tags.

Tags: Nantucket Historical Association, New York Public Library, State Library of Queensland Australia, Swedish National Heritage Board

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Across The Commons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.