A very rewarding photo of the week

Posted on September 28, 2022September 29, 2022 by carlotta

A very rewarding photo of the week

This is the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange on my very first site visit. I had never been inside the building before and was overwhelmed by the sheer size and beauty of this interior space. It was a very hot June day and afternoon sunlight was streaming in through the huge iconic west-facing windows.

It is that figure, dead centre and running in the shaft of light, that always gets me. He looks so tiny, giving perspective to the enormity of the room.

The special reason for sharing this cyanotype today is that it is being offered as a reward for a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the Brighton Dome and Corn Exchange.

The Brighton Dome need to raise funds urgently as they are still recovering from the impact of covid, plus facing huge increases in energy costs and inflation.They do so much to support the arts and are an invaluable part of their community: “We employ 130 full-time equivalent permanent staff, 200 casual workers, around 100 freelance artists and creative workers and 131 volunteers, and have a duty, as custodians of these spaces, and a commitment to the artists we support.” I am one of those 100 freelance artists.

I have three different cyanotypes of the Corn Exchange refurbishment being offered at a variety of levels, from greeting cards, to reproduction prints, to signed, hand-printed originals.

Please do check out the link and give generously if you are able.

Storm in a bathtub

Posted on April 1, 2022 by carlotta

Storm in a bathtub

I thought I would share with you part of my process of printing cyanotypes by hand. Currently this is the largest individual print (40 x 60cm) that I can make, the dimensions limited by the size of my bathtub.

Cyanotypes do not need a traditional darkroom since they are photosensitive to ultraviolet light only and need just plain water to fix and wash them, instead of traditional chemical fixers. This means that I can expose my prints in a darkish room with electric uv lights and wash them with tap water in my bathtub.

For the show that I am installing on Monday, I have been focussing on the more abstract elements of my cyanotype landscapes: the spray of storm waves that are both soft and ominous, the viscous reflectiveness of water ripples, the slipperiness of wet seaweed, the rhythm of wind-blown beach grass.

My show will be up from 4-25 April at Tigermoth Coffee Bar (opening hours Monday to Friday 9-2, Saturday 10-3).

I hope you can stop by if you are in the area. Be sure to get one of their delicious coffees while you are there.

Here it is, my 200th photo of the week

Posted on November 25, 2021November 26, 2021 by carlotta

Here it is, my 200th photo of the week

I sent out my very first photo of the week back in the summer of 2015. At the time I could never have imagined all the interesting avenues down which my work would take me.

This week I give you a beautiful stained glass window from Southover Grange that is nearly 450 years old. A few years ago I recorded the renovation of this magnificent Elizabethan manor in the centre of Lewes for its owners, East Sussex County Council. My photographs of the restoration can be found here.

My original digital photograph shows the subtle colours of the ancient stained glass. You can see it here. I find it interesting the way in which printing this image as a cyanotype changes how we read it. In monochrome, the patterns of light have a feeling of solidity and an almost watery sense of depth.

I will be showing this print, along with a selection of other architectural and landscape cyanotypes, next Friday and Saturday at the annual Artists and Makers Christmas Fair in Lewes Town Hall.

Along with original prints, I will be selling my books (sea shore, Lewes Bonfire Portraits and 11 Sun Street, Lewes) and greeting cards of my cyanotypes of both landscapes and local architecture. Please come and say hello if you are in the area.

If you cannot make it to the fair, you can always order prints from me directly and buy any of my books from my website. It is not too late to order for Christmas. All my hand-printed cyanotypes are available to buy. I have many more than are on my website so get in touch if you would like to know more. Information about purchasing my prints and all of my photography books can be found here.

Remember, remember, it’s the 5th of November

Posted on November 5, 2021November 5, 2021 by carlotta

Remember, remember, it’s the 5th of November

So, here we are at the 5th of November again. After last year, when the famous Lewes Bonfire celebrations were cancelled because of covid, this time it is all systems go. I am writing this on the night before and we have been hearing bangers and fireworks all evening long.

For those of you who do not live in Lewes, the town is woken at 6am on the morning of the 5th by the firing of a cannon up by the castle. From there on in, the excitement builds, culminating in the evening Grand Procession through the centre of town.

This is followed by six separate bonfires and extravagant firework displays hosted by each of the town’s bonfire societies. The revelries last long into the night.

I am not even going to try to summarise all that happens in this small town on the 5th of November. Instead of words, I give you a cyanotype: a bonfire in flames topped by an eery burning effigy.

I have a book of 45 of my book of hand-printed cyanotype Bonfire Portraits which is available to buy. You can find out more about it here.

I am still hard at work binding more copies of my latest book sea shore. It is a collection of 29 of my landscape cyanotypes and two poems written by Sara London. If you are interested in buying a copy, you can order directly from my website.

All my hand-printed cyanotypes are available to buy. Information about purchasing my prints and all of my photography books can be found here.

In search of the cyanotype zing

Posted on September 17, 2021September 17, 2021 by carlotta

In search of the cyanotype zing

In preparation for my Artwave show I have been playing around with my archive of architecture projects, experimenting with which images work as cyanotypes. As always with this medium, it is not a clear translation from one type of photograph to another. It isn’t even as straight forward as making a picture monochromatic. I have spent the past year and a half pondering the secret ingredient that makes some images fall flat as cyanotypes, and makes others zing and I still can’t always put my finger on it.

This photograph is from my project documenting the construction of the Depot Cinema in Lewes – a project that I loved. You might be surprised to know that this was taken a mere two months before the Depot opened to the public. In this shot, I think it is the drama of the light, the sharp angles, and the silhouetted figure right in the middle, that translate well into the high contrast of a cyanotype.

A large print of this photograph is on display at my Artwave show. I will be showing again this year with artist Kelly Hall. You can find us at venue 91, St Anne’s House, 111 High Street, Lewes, BN7 1XY (across the street from Shelley’s). We will be open the 18, 19, 25 and 26 September, 11am-5pm.

My new book sea shore will be available to buy at my exhibit as well. It is a collection of 29 of my landscape cyanotypes and two poems written by Sara London. I am currently in the process of hand binding this limited first edition. If you are interested in buying a copy, you can pre-order directly from my website.

All my hand-printed cyanotypes are available to buy. Information about purchasing my prints and all of my photography books can be found here.

Please contact me if you have a workplace, an event, a celebration, a portrait or a building project you would like to have photographed.

From sea to shore and up into the dunes

Posted on September 2, 2021September 7, 2021 by carlotta

From sea to shore and up into the dunes

I realised that the only cyanotypes from my new book that I have blogged about so far have been of the sea. As the book is called sea shore I thought I should post one of the shore. In fact, this is the last image in the book.

I think of sea shore as the visual story of a journey. It begins in stormy seas, travels to calm, shallow water, and eventually ends up in the dunes. The trip is punctuated by two beautiful poems written by poet Sara London.

One aspect of this project that I have particularly enjoyed is the bringing together of imagery collected over the years from many times and places. The locations are not the important factor for me, though. It is about the universality of sea and coast, not the specifics of place. I photographed these sand dunes on the coast of Belgium seven years ago, but it could be any sandy coastline swept by wind and water.

Sea shore is a collection of 29 cyanotypes and two poems in a signed and numbered first edition. If you are interested in buying a copy, you can now pre-order directly from here. I am currently hand binding the books and delivery will start after 14.09.2021.

If you are in Lewes in September, I hope you can come see my Artwave show. It is venue 91, St Anne’s House, 111 High Street, Lewes, BN7 1XY (across the street from Shelley’s).

I will be showing again this year with artist Kelly Hall. We will be open the 11, 12, 18, 19, 25 and 26 September, 11am-5pm. We will have original artwork, signed prints, artist books and greeting cards available to buy.

Don’t forget that all my hand-printed cyanotypes are available to buy. Information about purchasing my prints and books can be found here.

Category: cyanotypes