Producing cyanotypes relies on ultraviolet light and excessive UV light inhibits the growth processes of almost all green plants. There is concern that ozone depletion may lead to a loss of plant species so the production of cyanotypes acts as a metaphor for this process. Additionally, all the coloured inks used in the images have names that are relevant to the topic e.g., Baked Earth, Hot Red, Fern Green. The names given to each image are constructed from the name of the flower plus the ink pigments used in the image.

 
This series of images is influenced by the work of Betty Hahn. Her series Cut Flowers uses alternative photographic processes such as cyanotypes and Van Dyke prints (Yates 1995).

 
I have used Derwent Inktense Blocks, which can be applied as a watercolour, to give a grainier effect to the ink colours. I also wanted to add more elements of chance, as with my pesticide prints, in the tradition of the surrealists who blurred the lines “between the intended and the unintentional” (Sontag 1978:5) and for whom the unpredictable was “a favorite technique” (Marien 2014:255). In some images I used droppers to add Artists’ Ink and allowed this to run across the paper. The random effects are achieved because this is all done before the cyanotype chemicals are applied to the paper and before the negative of the flower put in place and the paper exposed to the light.

 
References
Marien, M. W. (2014) Photography: A Cultural History (4th ed.). London: Laurence King Publishing.
Sontag, S. (1978) On Photography. London: Penguin.
Yates, S. (ed.) (1995) Betty Hahn: Photography Or Maybe Not. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.