“Gather ye rosehips” by Alison Bell
Country: St. Catharines, Canada
Parts used: Fruit of rosehips
Amount: About 25 rosehips
Extracted by: Blender
Thinner: A splash each of 91% isopropyl alcohol and distilled water
Application: Brushing
Layers: 1
Substrate: Canson XL Watercolour paper
Created with: Inkjet printed positive of an old catalogue illustration
Exposure: 17 days, July, summer 2023
Contrast: ✿✿✿ (High)
Challenges or observations: The exposed portion darkened and the covered portion stayed light! I am going to try this again with multiple layers, using a negative instead of a positive.
Additional information: This was done on a south-facing apartment balcony. Full sun for about 4 or 5 hours a day at this time of year. The title, “Gather ye rosehips”, is a play on “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may” from a poem by Robert Herrick (1648). The poem is a meditation on time and our need to make the best use of it. I thought that it resonated with the ephemeral nature of anthotypes and with this particular image of an antiquated, though still well-loved, technology.
Beach rose (Rosa Rugosa) anthotype by Alison Bell
This anthotype is part of World Anthotype Day
World Anthotype Day was started by AlternativePhotography.com in 2022. In August anthotype artists all over the world celebrate the anthotype process and send in their entries. We add them here to the database and create a reference book for each year. The purpose of the day is to build a large resource where artist can learn which pigmenets and plants that work and draw inspiration from other artists' work. The reference books can be found here:
Volume 1 is the first book in the series:
Volume 1 contains 60 unique anthotype emulsions from 103 artists taking part from 31 countries.
Anthotype Emulsions, Volume 1 – The collective research from photographers on World Anthotype Day 2022
Volume 2 is the second book:
Volume 2 contains 100 unique anthotype emulsions from 139 artists taking part from 31 countries.
Anthotype Emulsions, Volume 2 – The collective research from photographers on World Anthotype Day 2023
If you want to learn more about making anthotypes there is also the "how-to" book:
Make prints using plants - an environmentally safe process!The most comprehensive resource on Anthotypes.
Anthotypes – Explore the darkroom in your garden and make photographs using plants
Rated 9,8 - based on 224 votes
If you are already practising anthotype printing, we suggest making notes to document and learn:
50 pre-defined pages for you to document your anthotype process.
Anthotype notes – Document your anthotype process
Rated 10 - based on 2 votes
