Researching this assignment I want to consider the work of Anna Atkins, Washington Teasdale and Bernd and Hilla Becher then I want to look at types of text I could use to complete this work. I want to try to present all the subjects covered in this second part of the course.

(1)Anna Atkins was born in 1799 and was a botanist and photographer. She made impressions of British algae using the cyanotype method in 1843. The detail in these impressions is amazing almost looking three dimensional. She was a great scientist and created work on algae, working mainly in biology but also studying marine shells. Copies of her work on algae are kept in institutions across the world and are still a great reference point both scientifically and in the art world. Making her one of the few who have crossed across the two. Earlier this year I saw one of the cyanotypes in the Victoria and Albert museum in London and it was breathtaking. She worked closely with William Henry Fox Talbot who was a close associate of her husband so both were at the forefront of the new technology of photography.

(2)Washington Teasdale was born in Leeds he worked in India developing the rail network. His early photographic work was creating slides for magic lantern shows. He was interested in cyanotypes and created high quality work. He was a founder member of the Leeds Photographic Society. Familiar with many disciplines within photography but specialising in three Cyanotypes, Silver Gelatin print and Collotypes.
His interest in lenses led him to develop an early field microscope and he subsequently became a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
He took several exposures at Kirkstall Abbey in Leeds these plates allowed him to make a contact print using the cyanotype process. Whilst not as strong as Atkins work they are still strong prints.

(3)Bernd and Hilla Becher produced some of the greatest photos of the most mundane subjects ever. The way they composed the separate components of the typological works is mind blowing. Take the poster of photos of pit workings. They are all exactly the same composition but showing separate sites. This must have been so hard to achieve. The amount of work to capture each must have been immense. They met in 1957 in Dortmund at the Kunstakadamie. They first worked together taking exposures of mines and steelworks. They did this as their families had worked in these industries.
They had thought of everything they shot on cloudy days to stop shadows, but went further by shooting only in the same season either spring or autumn. They moved around the subject to ensure no distractions are in the frame. Whilst the shots look simple you can see the attention to detail in the simplicity.
In 1965 they came to Britain for a six month project travelling around the country repeating the process on the industrial sites here. In the seventies they repeated the process in North America.
After Bernd died Hilla worked mainly with the existing photos they had captured and continued doing so until her death in 2015.
Creating a poster is new to me so I thought of the four that came to my mind. First to pop into my head is the First World War poster which just says (4)“wants you” with Field Marshal Kitchener pointing right at you. This is a strong image with the finger pointing right at you and the eyes looking straight into you. In 1914 how could it not call to whoever looked at it.

Second I thought of the posters used by (5)British Rail to show destinations to get the public to use their leisure time to travel by rail for their holidays. One I have seen shows Scarborough in all its sunny glory to entice you to spend some time at the resort. They all show depictions of the landscape of the place and are works of art in themselves. This one was produced in the 1930s.

Next I thought of the (6)Wonder Bra poster I remember this poster and the car crashes it caused in 1994. It has a slogan of “Hello Boys” and was extremely provocative. It was withdrawn not because it objectified women but because it was causing lots of rear end shunts so damaging vehicles.

All of these posters have an accompanying image; I don’t want this for this assignment. The image will detract from the main part of the work offered. I want to create just text on my poster so I looked at posters with only text.

First I found a poster from (7)Belfast University which was posted in Belfast in 1973 to recruit women to campaign against the troubles. It follows a very similar format to the “Wants you” poster from the First World War. Without the image.

Next I found a text only poster for the (8)“Sydney and Harriet Janis Collection” an exhibition in 1970. This is a beautiful design. Simple but strong with just two colours Black and Red. The words form a cube the clever part is the words still work being easy to read. I don’t have the skills to do this…….Yet!

Finally I thought of the (9)“Keep Calm” poster which has been popular on all kinds of products from posters through t-shirts and mugs. One I have seen recently said “Keep Calm, drink Gin. I wonder if the purchaser realised this was an information poster used in WW2 by the ministry of information. It simply read “Keep calm and carry on”. What many don’t realise is it was designed to be used if Britain was invaded as it wasn’t, the public never got to see it until one was discovered in 2005.
This is the design I will use I like its simplicity and it won’t detract from my main body of work.
How do I make the cyanotype process work. I learned the process from a (10)Thames and Hudson Book it is simple but you need to follow each stage carefully.
So mixing 10g of Potassium Ferricyanide with 100ml of distilled water we create the first solution called A.
Then mixing in the cleaned glass bowl 25g of Ferric Ammonium Citrate with 100ml of distilled water I create the second solution called B.
These solutions can be kept in Brown bottles in a cool dark place for several weeks. When I am ready to coat the paper I mix equal quantities of solution A and B. The size or number of sheets of paper dictate how much I will need to mix. 5ml of each will coat two postcard sized sheets of watercolour paper.
Then you allow the paper to dry in a dark room. Again you can store the paper for a couple of weeks once dry in a envelope or a black photo paper bag.
Then place your paper with the subject on top of the paper. Place the glass on top and ensure it holds the subject as tight as possible. Then expose to sunlight, exposure time differs but on a cloudy day 20 minutes suffices. I look for the coating to gain a metallic grey colour then I know it is exposed.
Rinse in cold water under the tap until all the yellow coating has washed off and leave to dry. If you want to change the tones now is the time to play. I have tried Red wine, Tea, Coffee and Cocoa so far. The mid tones change slightly and improve the detail in the exposure. Tea seems to work best of all.
One last point is the finished print will change colour darkening and allowing detail to sharpen as it dries. It will bend also as it dries so placing the dry paper between kitchen paper under a large book this will help flatten it.
Works Cited
(1)Atkins, Anna. “British Algae.” Victoria and Albert Museum. British Algae. London , 1844.
(2)Teasdale, Washington. Kirkstall Abbey. Museum of the history of science, Oxford.
(3)Becher, Bernd and Hilla. Watertowers. MoMA, New York.
(4)Leete, Alfred. “Your Country Wants You.” War Office. Your Country Wants You. London, 1914.
(5)Broadhead, William Smithson. “Scarborough LNER Poster.” LNER . Scarbororough Poster. York, 1930-1955.
(6)Rose, Nigel. “Wonderbra Poster.” Victoria and Albert Museum. Wonderbra Poster. London, 1994.
(7)(?). “Women do you want peace?” Belfast University. Women do you want peace? Belfast, 1973.
(8)Arx, Peter Von. “Kunsthalle Basel.” Theo Kabel. Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection. New York, 1970.
(9)Servant, Unknown Civil. “Keep Calm and Carry On.” MoI. Keep Calm and Carry On Poster. London, 1940.
(10)Gomez, Anthonini Minniti, and Lunganella Bendandi. Experimental Photography. London: Thames and Hudson, 2015.















































































