CYANOTYPE: Telling Stories and Revealing Worlds in Blueprints
Image 1: Shooting of Cassils’s Human Measure film at White Sands National Park in 2023 (photo by Jasmine Albuquerque, courtesy the artist). Image 2: Hands reach out from Drexciya in Andrea Chung’s Between Too Late and Too Early (photo Francess Archer Dunbar/Hyperallergic). Image 3: You Broke the Ocean in Half to Be Here, Andrea Chung. Image 3-5: Cyanotypes by Christine HuhnCyanotypes are a camera-less photographic printing process that uses a two-part iron salt solution to create striking monochrome blueprints. Artist and historic preserver Christine Huhn creates photographic prints by hand wherever she is, without needing an enlarger. Although this process was developed for blueprints or an economical approach to capturing a photograph, many phenomenal figures in the art world, such as the Canadian artist, "Cassils" and Andrea Chung, use the medium of cyanotype to reveal and observe the layers of culture within a landscape in thematic and delicate ways. In her series, You Broke the Ocean to Be Here, Chung uses the cyanotype process to examine slavery and colonialism in the Caribbean.
Casills "Etched in Light (2024)," showcased the outline of bodies in motion and was printed on cloth. Unlike a photograph, a cyanotype requires at least 20 minutes of exposure. The process made transgender artist Cassils realize that more than just a prop, they had found an experience exceptional in its own right. Etched in Light” got its start in 2016 as a prop for Cassils’s contemporary dance performance “Human Measure.” The dancers made prints on the fabric, and where the beach became the developing tray and the ongoing series is entitled Movement.
After graduating from college with a Fine Arts degree in photography, Huhn spent a few years in Brooklyn working as a product photographer before deciding to move back home to Dingmans. While she was figuring out her career path, she came across an internship opportunity at the museum in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, where her mentor introduced her to the world of historic preservation and how to use her photography to document and preserve the cultural landscape. This experience inspired her to pursue a master’s in historic preservation. Now, after many moves and a series of temporary jobs, she’s the head of the digitization lab at UC Berkeley Library. When asked what drew her practice towards the cyanotype process, Chrissy explains that working in the darkroom and creating prints by hand is a big part of her artistic identity. She loves the historical significance of cyanotype along with its accessible, versatile, and experimental qualities.
We look forward to spending time with Chrissy Huhn in August at Willow Pond SLO, where she will lead a sunbathed late summer workshop on at our 14-acre artist retreat titled: CYANOTYPE PRINTING & TONING WITH BOTANICALS, Friday, August 14 - Monday, August 17, 2026. Booking is open now.
Sources:
Dutton, Zoe. (April 1, 2024). HyperAllergic.com. "Activists Create Life-Sized Cyanotype in Trans Solidarity Action.” https://hyperallergic.com/881729/activists-create-life-sized-cyanotype-in-trans-solidarity-action/Dunbar, Francis, Archer. (March 17, 2025) HyperAllergic.om. “Andrea Chung’s Afrofuturism of Cyanotypes and Sugar” https://hyperallergic.com/993802/andrea-chung-afrofuturism-of-cyanotypes-and-sugar-moca-north-miami/Nora Lalle. (September 5th 2023) PampleMousse Magazine, Alternative Issue #6. “Interview Christine Huhn” https://pamplemoussemagazine.com/read/interview-christine-huhn