cyanotypical: Blueprint portraits by Benjamin aleshire
on exhibit June 16th-August 18th
on exhibit june 16th-August 18th
“CYANOTYPICAL,” Blueprint Portraits by Benjamin Aleshire, on exhibit June 16th-August 18th.
You are invited to the opening reception with open studios on Friday, June 16th, 5-8pm. Poetry reading by Benjamin Aleshire and Skye Jackson, 7pm at the reception.
Image Credit:
This portrait of the artist and activist Molly Crabappple in her studio in Brooklyn was shot this April on medium format 120 film and printed in the sunlight from enlarged negatives as cyanotypes, at 24x24", onto cotton fabric.
To create these striking photographs, Benjamin employs the same basic chemistry formula that was invented in 1842 by Sir John Herschel, which was used primarily to create architectural blueprints. An emulsion of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide, when mixed together, becomes sensitive to ultraviolet light. After exposure in sunlight, the prints are washed in water, leaving only the ferric ferrocyanide (Prussian Blue pigment) behind.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST AND HIS WORK AT:
Viewings by appointment (email us) and open during events at The Phoenix Gallery & Music Hall (downstairs)