World Anthotype Day – 3rd Saturday in August

The second World Anthotype Day is now closed for entries. Deadline was 19th of August 2023 (the 3rd Saturday in August) and it is now closed for entries. Welcome back next time! Anthotype is an alternative photographic process where you create an emulsion using plant pigments and print your photograph using the sun. In 2022 over 100 artists sent in their anthotypes using pigments from 60 plants!

World Anthotype Day is a global event, free to enter and invites both beginners and experienced anthotypers. Don’t hesitate to join in! Scroll down for instructions.
–> Sign up for the Anthotype newsletter to be reminded.

Need to brush up on your skills?

• Start learning the anthotype process in this article: Anthotypes – instructions to making a print using plants
• When you want to build your skills and deeper into the process, pick up a copy of the book Anthotypes – Explore the darkroom in your garden and make photographs using plants.
• Read the book Anthotype Emulsions, Volume 1 and get inspiration from last year’s entries
• The notebook Anthotype Notes follows the entry format and makes your documentation easier for the day.

Details on how to enter – follow all steps. Open for entries now!

You email us your entry to anthotype@alternativephotography.com and an entry consists of:

• reading through the Terms & Conditions
• sending 3 items: your anthotype, a picture of the plant and the text for your process – follow ALL steps below.

Entries in the wrong format may not be entered. Do make our lives a little easier by following all of these steps, please. 🙂 We get 100+ entries so we simply don’t have time to edit them all.

Read through the Terms and Conditions – mandatory!

• Read ALL of the Terms and Conditions here
• By submitting your work you agree to be bound by the Terms and Conditions on the link above.
• By entering your work to the Anthotype day, your work may be included on our website and book, but we reserve the right not to include it. Submission is no guarantee of publication. There is no guarantee there will be a printed or digital version of a book, this is dependent on the response. By entering you grant permission for your image to be used. There will be no monetary compensation if your work is published you will receive full credit (and a lot of exposure).

Item 1. Text information – copy and paste into an email

• COPY and paste the information below into an email, DELETE the example text and fill it out with your own details:
• Common name and Latin name of plant or pigment: For example Lilac, common (Syringa vulgaris) / Blueberry (Vaccinium sect. Cyanococcus)
• “Title” by FirstName Surname: For example: “Summer Hope” by Joanne Smith
• Place, Country: For example: Montreal, Canada / Washington, DC, USA, / Staffordshire, UK / Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• Parts used: Petals / Stem / Powder / Root / Leaves / Anything else for example
• Amount: A handful for each print / 2 tablespoons / 30 grams for example
• Extracted by: Mortar / Centrifuge / Soaking / Cooking for example
• Thinner: Tap water / Distilled water / Alcohol (state which kind) for example
• Application: Brushing / Dipping / Rod coating / Cotton swabs for example
• Layers: 3 for example
• Substrate: Watercolour paper / Cotton cloth / Hahnemuhle Platinum Rag 300 gsm / Cotton rag / Anything else you used for example
• Created with: Describe in a few words how you created the image, for example: Photogram of petals / Positive on OHP paper / Laser printed OHP positive
• Exposure: 6 hours / 2 days / 4 weeks for example
• Month, season and year: For example: August, summer 2023
• UV-strength (optional): 6-8 for example
• Temperature: (optional): 16-28 Celcius for example
• Humidity: (optional): 65-75% for example
• Contrast: For example: ✘ (Almost none) / ✿ (Low) / ✿✿ (Medium) / ✿✿✿ (High). This is the contrast of the final print, and can be defined as this:
  ✘ (Almost none – little or no difference between the darker and lighter areas of the print.)
  ✿ (Low – slight difference between the darker and lighter areas of the print, not easy to see what it is.)
  ✿✿ (Medium – a good difference between the darker and lighter areas of the print, you can easily see the motif.)
  ✿✿✿ (High – a lot of difference between the darker and lighter areas of the print.)
  (We may edit this on your entry since it’s compared to other entries)
• Challenges or observations: (optional) Can be something you had problems with in your anthotype process, or observed such as: The purple-blue petals crushed in a mortar and mixed with a little tap water produced a nice golden-toned print in a very short time / or something about exposure, coating, layers, or anything else someone may find useful. Try to reflect on where the difficulties were and how it can be done easier or result in a better print. This text should focus on the process. Additional images of your process can also be sent if you like.
• Additional information: (optional) This could be something more general or personal about your process, your anthotype or anything else you think others may find interesting. Or it could be information about the plant or pigment you used.
  Try keeping the extra text of “Challenges or observations” and “Additional information” to a total of about 150 words.
• Instagram: (optional) @alternativephotography_com for example
• Facebook: (optional) https://www.facebook.com/alternativephotography for example
• Website: (optional) 
• Also let us know if you are a Supporting Member, since we will add extra links to your gallery etc.

Item 2. The anthotype print

• Create your Anthotype using the anthotype process.
  – No nudes or offensive images are allowed.
  – The print you enter should be from THE LAST 12 MONTHS, i.e. after the last World Anthotype Day.
• Scan or photograph the anthotype (as long as it is representative of the print) and resize it large enough to print: 2500 pixels LONGEST SIDE is recommended. Name the file as follows: “Common Name Of The Plant-Name Surname-Title Of Image.jpg” for example “Tulip-Joanne Smith-Summer Bliss.jpg”. Here is an article on how to do this with your phone.

Item 3. The picture of the plant or emulsion used

• Take a picture of the plant or pigment. Take a picture of the plant as it appears in nature, not chopped up, and not as liquid emulsions. DO NOT use one you found on the internet.
• Crop it SQUARE and resize it large enough to print: 1080 pixels is recommended.
• Name the file “Common Name Of The Plant-Name Surname.jpg” for example “Tulip-Joanne Smith.jpg”.

Now you are ready to send the images and the text to us:

• Send images by file transfer (one entry per person) such as:
  – WeTransfer
  – Dropbox (click here to get a free account with extra storage space)
  – Google Drive – set permissions to “Anyone with the link can view”
• You can email us the link or allow the file to be shared with anthotype@alternativephotography.com. Do not attach the images to an email. If you have no idea how to do a file transfer, contact us.

• Send the text (Item 1. above) in an email anthotype@alternativephotography.com or include a text file in the file transfer, but copy-paste into an email is easiest.
• We may or may not publish the work on our social media channels such as Instagram and Facebook. If you have included your Instagram in the form will include it.
• When we receive your entry, you will get a confirmation email. If you do not receive a confirmation within a week, check with us at anthotype@alternativephotography.com since it may have gotten stuck in the spam folder.
• Artists are also invited to make a 30-60s video of themselves and their print (optional). See last year’s entries here.

We hope you enjoy both making anthotypes and taking part in World Anthotype Day!

Also share on social media with the hashtags: #worldanthotypeday #worldanthotypeday2023 (you can also use: #anthotypeday #anthotypeday2023) Also tag us in your Insta posts: @alternativephotography_com