STEPH first started exploring the cyanotype medium in 2017 on Skopelos Island in Greece, after facilitating a workshop with DOUG SPOWART + VICTORIA COOPER. She fell in love with the blue tonal range & the process immediately. STEPH easily adapted her photographs into negatives & her ‘cut-outs’ to become photograms - from the Greek word 'phos' meaning light - where objects are placed directly onto a light sensitive surface & exposed to light.
Cyanotype is a UV light sensitive photographic printing process discovered in the 1840's. The process uses a mixture of iron compounds, ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide. After preparing the solution STEPH then applies this to paper or fabric. When exposed to UV light and washed in water it oxidises, producing a cyan blue print. It is where the term 'blueprint' comes from. The name cyanotype is derived from the Greek word 'cyan', meaning dark-blue impression.
Using the sun as her only source of UV light, STEPH uses the cyanotype medium to depict people and objects found in everyday life in Greece.
The colours of Greece are blue & white. Vast blue skies, seas & white washed houses are echoed in the Greek flag. But these colours also relate to her experience of place on Skopelos - a tranquil & stable environment, rich in history & wisdom where she immerses herself for 6 months each year.
Cyanotype is a UV light sensitive photographic printing process discovered in the 1840's. The process uses a mixture of iron compounds, ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide. After preparing the solution STEPH then applies this to paper or fabric. When exposed to UV light and washed in water it oxidises, producing a cyan blue print. It is where the term 'blueprint' comes from. The name cyanotype is derived from the Greek word 'cyan', meaning dark-blue impression.
Using the sun as her only source of UV light, STEPH uses the cyanotype medium to depict people and objects found in everyday life in Greece.
The colours of Greece are blue & white. Vast blue skies, seas & white washed houses are echoed in the Greek flag. But these colours also relate to her experience of place on Skopelos - a tranquil & stable environment, rich in history & wisdom where she immerses herself for 6 months each year.
