Back in October 2021, when we had yet to return to physical meetings, Barbara entertained members on Zoom with her experiences of trying out Cyanotype, Salt printing and pinhole photography. Now established at our new club venue at Kirkheaton Parish Centre, Barbara was able to deliver the practical event which she had promised. Entering the room to see a long bench full of chemicals, blocks of wax, frames, transparent slides, papers, patterns, and bags of small items it was soon apparent that this was not a venture which could be conducted on line. Indeed it was thought impractical to relay the presentation as a hybrid meeting particularly as a key part of the evening was to have a go at the techniques ourselves. Barbara explained the process of making cyanotype prints, illustrating it with some of her own photographic images which had been made into large scale negatives. These had been exposed onto light sensitive paper using a simple ‘darkroom in a box’ using a UV light. She then went on to show us the materials and chemicals involved in making cyanotype prints and demonstrated the use of the two-part cyanotype developer. Those of us who had done darkroom printing were intrigued to see that no separate fixer solution was required; just a good wash to remove unwanted chemicals. Barbara showed us how to lay out objects on paper including layers of leaves and flowers in an applique fashion.
Then it was our turn to have a go and a number of club members got their creative juices going to good effect. Thanks Barbara for giving us an evening with a difference.
