How a blueprint is made
The sun print is one of the oldest photographic techniques. It needs no darkroom and no printer — just paper, a stencil and a bright day.
The motif is prepared as a negative
The source becomes a stencil in which the image is inverted. Whatever should stay pale on the sheet must stay dark on the stencil. This inside-out thinking is the hardest part of the whole process.
The paper is exposed to the sun
Specially prepared cotton paper goes under glass with the stencil and lies out in the sun. The exposure time is dictated by the sky — in June a few minutes are enough, in winter it is a long wait.
The deep blue appears
After a rinse in water the colour settles and darkens while drying into its characteristic deep blue. The moment the image appears is the best part.
Every piece is an original
Sunlight cannot be dialled in to a value. Sheets from the same edition therefore differ in tone and in the drawing of their edges. Small variations are a mark of handmade work, not a defect.