World Anthotype Day – it’s here, it’s official!

It’s here: The World Anthotype Day! Read about how it started and how to take part in the very first World Anthotype Day ever – on the 3rd Saturday in August. The theme is Hope.

How World Anthotype Day started

The initiative of World Anththotype Day was started here, by us, after sending out the Anthotype Day survey and getting an overwhelmingly positive response. The core team for the first year consists of Malin Fabbri, the editor of this website, and Dennis Humphrey, both of us working on a voluntary basis. We will also need to hire developers to help with the technical aspects of the database, and students to help during the event itself, given all the hours it takes to keep the social media channels updated. We hope to expand the team of volunteers over the years.

Before you ask, Anthotype Day and World Anthotype Day are the same things. The official name is World Anthotype Day to emphasize that it is a global event. The very first World Anthotype Day is on the 20th of August 2022, and, if successful, the plan is to hold it every year, on the 3rd Saturday in August.

Since anthotypes can have a very long exposure time and are also dependent on UV light for exposure—which differs, depending on where in the world you are—we encourage participants to start working on their image as soon as the theme is announced. In 2022, the theme is HOPE.

How to participate, what to enter, and the deadline

• All artists are welcome to enter the World Anthotype Day, experienced anthotypers as well as beginners.
• The event is open for entries from the 1st of August, the deadline is the 20th of August 2022.
• Here is what is required to participate in World Anthotype Day.
• New to Anthotypes? Learn more in this article about Anthotypes.
• Or get more skills from the book Anthotypes – Explore the darkroom in your garden and make photographs using plants

This day will be a little different from other days…

If you have taken part in World Cyanotype Day or World Pinhole Day before, you know the drill. BUT, with World Anthotype Day, we don’t want it to be just a day, and then it’s over. We want to build on something that can be used by Anthotypers for a long time. So the plan is:

• Artists are encouraged to send in work, BUT the Anthotypes will be published in an online database of emulsions that artists can search and use over time.
• Like the other days, we will also publish it on the social media channels for AlternativePhotography.com.
• In addition to this, there will be a book “Encyclopedia of anthotype emulsions” (working title and most likely an e-book and/or printed book), depending on the number and quality of entries.
• There may also be a catalog of each year’s’entries, most likely an e-book and/or printed book, depending on the number and quality of entries and the time, as well as the energy, we have left after the event.

We had so many good suggestions in the survey, so, hopefully, this event will grow over the years, and others all over the world will also have events of their own.

Official hashtags

The official hashtags for the day that we will be posting under are:
#worldanthotypeday #worldanthotypeday2022. Also tag us in your Insta posts: @alternativephotography_com
You can also use:
#anthotypeday #anthotypeday2022

The theme for 2022: Hope

After 2 years with a pandemic, with lockdowns, loss and restrictions, the tragic start of a war in Europe that will have consequences we are not yet even aware of, as well as the ongoing environmental crisis, Dennis Humphrey came up with a most fitting theme for this year during a planning meeting. The theme will be HOPE, because that’s what we thought the world needs right now… Hope.

Of course, we also hope that you join in the fun!