Unnatural History

The Unnatural History series is an ongoing body of work.  I’ve been exploring alternative processes for over a decade and started making large cyanotypes in 2004. While most people associate the blue color of cyanotypes with architectural plans, one of the earliest uses of the antique photographic process was for scientific illustration. Anna Atkins, one of the first women photographers, used the cyanotype process to record botanical specimens and published British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions in 1843. It was the first book to make use of photographic illustration and it is a beautiful synthesis of science and art.  I draw upon the medium’s historic origins to create pseudo-scientific illustrations of hybrid creatures that explore the relationships between science, nature, humanity, and technology.

The cyanotype process involves hand coating light sensitive chemistry onto artists’ paper, placing a negative on the paper and exposing it to the UV rays in sunlight.  Each of these steps is a variable that produces a unique print.  After development in water the deep Prussian blue color appears.  I must make many tests and adjustments to the negative, chemistry, and exposure time before I can achieve a good quality print.  

These images are made from large-scale digitally created negatives.  When I began the project several years ago, I drew inspiration from the finely rendered illustrations of a nineteenth century edition Gray’s Anatomy and a similarly old set of natural history encyclopedias. Digital technology enables me to manipulate and alter the scientific and mechanical illustrations I appropriate from antique texts and integrate them with my original photographs.