Cyanotype

No digital manipulation at all for this image.

This is a cyanotype, which is a very old (more than 150 years) type of photographic printing. I coat paper with a chemical solution, and when dry I place a negative directly on top and expose it to UV light (blacklight bulbs in this case). That reduces the shadow areas to ferric ferrocyanide, or Prussian blue, whereas the highlights (under the denser areas of the negative) remain unexposed and white. You develop simply by washing in water.

The photograph is a large format 4x5 inch negative taken on infrared film with a 720 nanometer IR filter. I used a 4x5 Cambo view camera and a 90 mm Schneider lens. I developed the film in XTOL.

I then painted a sheet of calligraphy parchment using a 1 inch hake brush. These 4x5 negatives are a bit small, so I like to embellish the borders with brush strokes.