Alternative Photography - Experimental Cyanotypes

What you'll learn

Discover one of photography’s most enduring and expressive techniques in this cyanotype and toning workshop. Using hand-coated papers and sunlight, you’ll transform natural materials and everyday objects into vibrant Prussian Blue images that celebrate shadow, contrast, and form.

Under the guidance of practising visual artist, Simone Darcy, you will learn how to mix and apply cyanotype chemistry, expose prints outdoors, and experiment with compositional elements such as negative images, textures, and shapes. Cyanotypes offer a rich tactile experience and a satisfying introduction to analogue processes — perfect for beginners or anyone seeking a hands-on creative practice.

This workshop also introduces toning, which uses natural or experimental solutions to alter the colour, atmosphere, and emotional tone of your finished prints. Through toning, the classic blue can shift into browns, greens, greys, or warmer, more organic hues. This process expands your creative options and gives each cyanotype a distinct personality.

Across the session, you’ll work on high-quality 300gsm paper, creating a series of 4–6 artworks. The workshop encourages exploration, drawing from both historical methods and contemporary abstraction. Students often find cyanotype deeply rewarding, not least because of the magical moment when a pale, exposed sheet transforms into rich blue under running water.

Simone will share historical context, practical methods, and insights for continuing your cyanotype practice beyond the classroom. You’ll leave with a strong technical foundation and a collection of expressive, sunlight-formed prints.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this cyanotype course, you should be able to:

Hand-coat papers with cyanotype chemistry
Expose and develop prints using sunlight
Create expressive compositions using natural and found materials
Apply toning methods to alter colour and mood
Produce a cohesive set of 4–6 finished cyanotype artworks

Course content

History and contemporary relevance of cyanotype
Hand-coating and preparing papers
Outdoor exposure and development
Negative images, objects, and botanical forms
Toning solutions for colour variation
Experimental mark-making and layering

This course has no current classes. Please join our waitlist and we will notify you when we have places available. Join waitlist for Alternative Photography - Experimental Cyanotypes