Have you heard of blue prints? Back then, practising engineers, architects, and drafters often called the duplicates of the original drawings as “blueprints”, or “floor plans”, because the photocopiers were not invented (yet)! Hence, cyanotype printing served as a function by duplicating copies of the master copy. Essentially, we were the ‘manual photocopiers’ before the photocopiers were invented.

Cyanotype printing was discovered in 1842 by Sir John Herschel – a chemist, an experimental photographer, mathematician and an astronomer. He unearthed the concoction of cyanotype printing by combining Ferric Ammonium Citrate and Potassium Ferricyanide. It was a monumental discovery as the concoction is reactive to Ultraviolet Light – in other words, “sun” sensitive.

It is also known as an alternative photographic printing process and also commonly known as sun-printing. However, this practice is not commonly known, especially in Singapore.