About the Course
This course presents everything needed for students to pursue cyanotype printing on their own. Discussions will include chemical sources, lighting requirements, suitable negatives, choice of papers, and technique. Students will have the opportunity to mix cyanotype chemistry, hand-coat paper, make exposures, and process cyanotype prints. Using the chemistry of plants we will also tone the cyanotypes to alter the color of the prints. Basic lab and safety protocols for the cyanotype process will also be discussed.
Basic darkroom knowledge expected.
Students will send photos to the instructor to have digital negatives made prior to the first class.
For additional information please contact Paige Billin-Frye at paigebf@starpower.net
Your Instructor
Paige Billin-Frye
Paige began taking pictures when she was a kid, printing them with her Dad in their makeshift darkroom using the same enlarger that he had printed on with his dad when he was a kid. Since then she has studied and experimented with various aspects of photography, most recently balancing the digital world of Photoshop and Lightroom with making work that she can touch with her hands, exploring various historical processes of photo printing. Her photographs have been shown in venues in Washington, DC, where she lives, as well as across the country. Her fine art work can be seen at www.bettermousetrapstudio.com.
Working as an illustrator in children’s publishing for over 40 years, along with her photographic work, has created for her a synergy of visual practice and learning. She has illustrated over 30 books for children and has worked for many trade, mass market and textbook publishers. Her illustration work can be seen at www.paigebillinfrye.com.
She also uses her skills on a volunteer basis heading up a project to photograph the mollusk collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The digitized images are made available to researchers around the world.
“I believe that everyone is an artist and I enjoy providing the guidance needed for students to find their own creative path.”