The technique of cyanoprinting was discovered by the astronomer Sir John Herschel (1792–1871) in 1842, while he was looking for an easy, rapid way of copying his notes (in an era long before home printers).

Not long afterwards, botanist Anna Atkins – considered the first female photographer – was conducting further research into cyanoprinting while she was illustrating her first book (a guide to plants) with photograms that depicted plants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In cyanoprinting, the image is formed thanks to the sun and to two light-sensitive chemicals – the covering of a porous surface with a mixture of Potassium Ferricyani FeK3(CN)6 and Ammonium Iron Citrate Fe NH3 in specific quantities and its exposure to ultraviolet light; sunlight or some other source (such as a lamp) of ultraviolet radiation gives it the characteristic blue color that we call today Prussian blue.

 

The etymology of the word cyanotype comes from the Ancient Greek word kyanous/kyanos, which means “sky blue.”

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In Greek mythology, Kyane was a Nymph from Sicily, wife of Anapos and one of the playmates of Persephone on the day of her abduction by Pluto, ruler of Hades, in the region of Emma in Sicily.

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According to one version of the myth, which Ovid relates in his Metamorphoses, overcome by grief and shame at not being able to prevent the abduction of her friend, Kyane was transformed into a spring bearing her name near Syracuse.

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The technique of cyanoprinting is used primarily on porous material (various types of paper, special cotton papers, wood, fabric) but also on some non-porous materials like plexiglass, ceramics, glass etc.

The applications and the possibilities for experimentation with the technique of cyanoprinting are endless.