Solar Cyanotypes in Post-Industrial Ecologies
(T15. Workshop)
— cyanotype / solar exposure / post-industrial ecologies / field-based practice / dérive / spontaneous plants / urban margins / textile printing / prussian blue / more-than-human ritual / collective image-making / environmental awareness
Cyanotype
Sunlight
Plants
Ruins
Fieldwork
Textiles
Exposure
Blue
Ecology
Ritual
Collective
Place
Time
Environment
Image
A workshop grounded in field-based cyanotype practice, where experimental photography meets ecological observation and collective outdoor printing.
Inspired by One Green Eye, the Other Blue: Herbarium of the Anthropocene, the session brings together photographic processes and environmental awareness, situating image-making within post-industrial landscapes.
WORKSHOP
In this workshop, participants will follow a field-based cyanotype protocol that combines experimental photography, ecological fieldwork, and collective outdoor printing.
The session begins with an introduction to cyanotype basics, safety notes, and an explanation of pre-sensitised fabrics prepared the night before and transported in opaque black bags.
Participants will take part in a short dérive to a nearby vacant lot or post-industrial margin, gathering spontaneous plants growing through cracks, rubble, and abandoned ground, while reflecting on botanical resilience.
On site, the group sets up for printing by opening the black bags and laying out the pre sensitised textiles. Plants are arranged directly onto the fabric, and compositions are exposed under direct sunlight, emphasising the role of place, time, and environment in the image-making process.
After exposure, participants return indoors to rinse and develop the textiles in water, observing the emergence of prussian blue and allowing the prints to dry in the shade.
The session also includes a demonstration of cyanotype chemistry preparation and the coating of small textile samples, offering a complete technical understanding of the process from preparation to final image.
The workshop frames printing as a more-than-human ritual, where plants, light, weather, and human action come together to produce the image, encouraging a collective and ecological approach to photographic practice.
CONTEXTO
Workshop: T15. Solar Cyanotypes in Post-Industrial Ecologies
[follow direct lik to booking page]
Concept and facilitation: paula roush
Commissioned by: Experimental Photo Festival 2026
Location: Centre Civic Pati Llimona
Carrer del Regomir, 3
08002 Barcelona
Date: Wed 22 Jul 2026
Time: 15:00 – 19:00 CEST
Outline
Introduction to cyanotype basics, ecology of ruins, safety notes, and explanation of pre-sensitised fabrics
Field walk to a nearby vacant lot and gathering of spontaneous urban plants, with discussion on botanical resilience
On-site setup for printing: opening black bags and laying out pre sensitised textiles
Composition with collected plants and solar exposure outdoors
Return indoors for rinsing and revelation of the prints and drying in shade
Demonstration of mixing cyanotype chemistry and coating small textile samples
Final sharing, documentation, and group reflection
