CYANOTOPIE – Blaudruck – Workshop

Cyanotype — Photography Without a Camera

Cyanotype is one of the oldest photographic techniques in the world, developed in 1842, and just one year later, botanist Anna Atkins used it for the first book ever illustrated with photographs: algae, ferns, leaves—all in that deep blue.

That’s exactly what we’re doing here, too—only with your own items.

We coat paper with a light-sensitive solution and place on top whatever you want to appear later—feathers, flowers, herbs, lace borders, paper scraps, or your own photos printed on film, and anything you draw directly onto film with a marker. Then comes the light—outdoors in the sun, or under a UV lamp when it’s raining—and after that, water. And that’s when the magic happens: What was just lying on the paper has vanished, and what remains is a white trace of it against a deep blue background. As if the paper had remembered something that’s no longer there.

Some people print a single flower. Others build entire worlds out of feathers, grasses, and photo snippets—dreamlike, half-remembered scenes that look as if you’ve seen them before, long ago.

With letter stamps, you can add a message to the image—a word, a greeting, a name—and with fineliners and gold, a postcard becomes something you can give as a gift.

What to bring: a poster (DIN A3) and two postcards (DIN A6). All materials are provided, including transparencies and Edding markers for drawing your own designs. Feel free to bring your own photos, printed on transparency film—and plants, if you have any that hold special meaning for you.

Noprior experience required. Things might go wrong sometimes, but the result will still be beautiful—and most of the time, that’s exactly why.

Duration: 2.5 hours · €74 · Studio POKÓJ, Neureutherstraße 19, Munich