I’ve been invited to participate in another group exhibition curated by The Compass Gallery in Glasgow.

“A Patch of Your Own” will be a group exhibition on the theme of allotments. Yas!

I’ve known about it for a few months now and have been out visiting some allotments and met some great people – although I’ve yet to make an image.

I’ve been scratching my head about the picture taking – and spent many hours in the darkroom over the past few weeks and I think I’m getting somewhere… Possibly…….

I’d like to make a series – probably four – full plate (8.5″x6.5″) tintype portraits of some green fingered gardeners but I’d also like to try some other auld skool photo magic to accompany the wet plates.

For a while now I’ve been experimenting with cyanotypes with the help of a UV light box gifted by my grumpy auld friend Robert Burns. (not the dead poet although at times you might question this) It’s really amazing – these things are expensive! – although I wish Robert hadn’t used it as an ash tray for so long. Perhaps without all the ash the timer might have worked. Anyway – us beggars cannae be choosers! Thanks Roberto!

Essentially you mix 2 separate solutions – A & B – then mix those together to make a working solution. You then paint the working solution onto some nice paper, dry it and contact print your negative on top.

I’m loving them – and I think I’ll plod away trying to get the best results from the cyanotype process before trying some Van Dyke Brown prints. I think these would sit better with the tone of the wet plate portraits, but the process is a little more involved – and costly as it uses silver!

Anyway – here are a few low res images of the cyanotype process in my crazy loft darkroom – with a fab sink gifted by the amazing David Eustace (are you detecting a theme in how my darkroom has been put together) 🙂