About Anthotypes

About Anthotypes Sir John Herschel first created Anthotypes in the early 19th century, during a flurry of experimentation with various photographic methods. The process uses the pigments derived from ground flowers or leaves as a photographic emulsion. Unfortunately, the process can't be stopped. Even after the image is removed from the direct sun, the fading continues.

Since the fading process could not be fixed, the process was quickly relegated to obscurity. However, there are some examples of Herschel's original anthotypes in the photography collection at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, Austin. They are kept in dark storage with limited access to the public.

In my efforts to make more sustainable, environmentally friendly artwork, I use a digital camera and heavily manipulate the images in Photoshop. High contrast images with well-defined edges work best for this process. Using spinach there is a range of about 4 different tones; unchanged/dark, medium, light and white, though there is usually a hint of tone in even the most bleached out parts of the image. Anthotypes require a positive image instead of a negative, as the clear (white) parts of the image need to receive the most sunlight to bleach out to white. I usually print my positive transparencies on Arista OHP Transparency Film.

To make an anthotype print, the leaves or petals are ground to a fine slurry in a food processor or blender [Image 1] and strained to remove the pulp [Image 2]. The remaining juice is used as an emulsion and coated on the paper with a brush [Image 3]. Often, several coats of emulsion are necessary to build up a significant color. Any paper that will withstand the repeated wetting from the emulsion can be used, but a smooth finish paper will yield better detail in the image. The image comes from a positive transparency that is placed in contact with the coated paper and placed in the sun [Image 4]. After several hours or days, the clear parts of the transparency have allowed the sun to bleach out the pigment leaving an image on the coated paper. In Northern California, the exposure of a spinach image on a clear, sunny summer day is 3-4 hours.