By: Helaena Hutchinson
The Greenspring review is giving away bookmarks on the second floor of South Garrison Student Union for $2. However, these page markers are far from ordinary and their art style seems to be catching everyone’s attention. The bookmarks have a unique design that takes us back to a time when pictures were captured the old fashion way. It incapsulates the beauty of nature and decorates the bookmark with dark shades of blue and the brightness of white. It gives the pictures a frosty texture and the pictures glow like an old movie film.
What are Cyanotypes?
Cyanotype photography is a special kind of technique that can capture pictures without using a camera (Greta Bahnemann). You are all wondering how that is even possible. Before the camera was invented, cyanotypes were the first thing people used to capture pictures using a mixture of a few chemicals and a process of paper. The method involved placing an item on paper that has been coated with a solution of iron salts, then subjecting it to UV light and rinsing it with water to produce captivating images in beautiful white and blue. You could say it was the beginning of photography. If you look at it now, you are looking at the first type of pictures that have ever been made in history. If people never used this process to make pictures, we would not have cameras, movies, TV, phones and so much more. Even if technology were to improve our pictures over the years we cannot forget where they all come from.
Do people still use Cyanotypes today?
Yes, people still practice using Cyanotypes for art and science alike. Unlike photos are developed on film, this process does not require any machine or a dark room. Artists today use it as another use for capturing the beauty of nature and inspiration for creation.
Why did the Greenspring Review create them for their 2024 bookmarks?
Samantha the editor chief explains “Cyanotypes capture the beauty in nature, perception, and craft in the same way that creative writing and art do. We felt they were representative of the work we do as an organization.” The Greenspring Review uses this wonderful work of art to inspire new writers and artists to create.
The process of the Cyanotypes represents the work of every great artist. They took arduous work for craft and patience for it to be perfect. The Greenspring Review wanted to find these unique creative writers and have them continue their work and share their proud work with others. The art we create needs devotion, patience, and time to express an artist.
Cyanotypes are a wonderful inspiration to build art from the nature around us. Science is one of the factors that builds culture and beauty in the art and literature we know today. The best artists around the world use the environment or strong facts of reality to express their work of art. As an artist and writer, myself, I am inspired not just by the literature of the past, but by the world where wonders exist in every corner.
