Kembang Telang (Clitoria ternatea) anthotype by Vidhyasuri Utami

“BTS Misti: The View from North Jakarta” by Vidhyasuri Utami
Country: Indonesia
Common name: Also known as Butterfly pea
Parts used: Petals
Application: Brushing
Exposure time: 5 days
Months, season and year: June, summer,
Substrate: Canson Montval watercolour paper 200 gsm
Contrast of final print: * (Low)

Amount: minimum around 5 tablespoons
Extracted using: Mortar
Thinner: Distilled water
Layers: minimum 7 layers
Used to create image: Positive on OHP paper

Challenges or observations:
Sun showers, a common phenomenon in the equator. in which prevented me to expose the print. During this year’s summer, we experienced more sun showers than before. It definitely must be a sunprint, I have no UV box. It was a waste of time to try it in the box, inside and all. The more layers you add, a hint of purplish chrome appears, though it vanished after exposure. Telang also could change colour to purple by adding acid such as a dash of squeezed lime. Telang is known as a natural colorant for foods and beverages in Indonesia.

I took the photo during a film shoot of Misti, a social awareness campaign by a Jakarta-based Foundation to prevent child marriage, especially for Indonesian female teens. The theme “Hope” is parallel to the film’s theme and furthermore, the beatific horizon of the North coast of Jakarta symbolizing a hope despite the actual setting of low-income-cum-slum area.

Though I took the picture in 2019, I made the Anthotype print in May-June 2022, marking the potential end of “pandemic” in my country.

Instagram: @vidhyasuri

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: