Justification for complication in various cyanotype processes

Loris

The point was whether the increased complication of the new cyanotype system
was justified by the advantages offered. It was not just about over
complication.

You tried to reverse the argument by claiming that there was no increased
complicaton but would not give a fair comparison of the two to demonstrate your
point.

In fact, the main justification for the new cyanotype was, I am told, that it
gave increased speed. There was also a claim that it gave continuous tone
while the 'classic' method did not. This was, of course, demonstrable nonsense.

The cyanotype rex not only gives sufficient increase in speed to make in
camera exposures possible but it allows the use of negatives across a broad
spectrum of density ranges. I made a print this afternoon of the interior of the
1000 year old tower of Barnack church in Cambridgeshire. The area was so dark
that even a twenty minute exposure left very little detail on the negative. My
toned cyanotype rex print not only gave all the detail in the very thin parts of
the negative but handled the detail in the stained glass in the saxon window.
It is that kind of advantage that justifies some increased complication,
although the increased complication is very little in the cyanotype rex process.

I hopethat it has not been as hot in Istanbul as it has here.

Terry
Received on 07/19/06-04:13:19 PM Z