World Cyanotype Day (WCD) is celebrated on the last Saturday of September. Since 2015, it has brought together our global community of artists to share prints and celebrate the cyanotype process. Beginners and experienced artists: don’t hesitate to take part!
- Theme: GLOBAL BLUEPRINT – People, Place, and Environment
- When? The 26th of September 2026
- Until: 2nd October 2026
- Entry fee: Free
- How to take part
- The cyanotype checklist – got all you need to start?
- New to the process? Learn from the beginner’s cyanotype book
How to take part in World Cyanotype Day
Will you join World Cyanotype Day? We’d love to see your cyanotype! This year, there are two places to share your work:
- AlternativePhotography.com (that’s us!)
- WorldCyanotypeDay.com
You can enter both or just one; it’s up to you where you would like your work to be shown.
The theme for World Cyanotype Day 2026
The theme for World Cyanotype Day is set by Shootapalooza, and this year it is: GLOBAL BLUEPRINT – People, Place, and Environment
“When people from all over the world contribute, capturing the biodiversity of its people, places, nature, cityscape, etc., you stitch these localized blueprints together into a single interconnected global art piece.”
Feel free to interpret it your way. A tip is to clarify your thinking in the title of your image. 🙂
Before you send your image
When you enter, do make our lives a little easier by following ALL this, please. 🙂
Make sure you follow the theme of the year! (Do follow the theme and don’t just take a print out from the drawer!) - Resize: 1080 px (longest side)
- Save as .jpg (no .png, .tiff, .heic)
- Name file: “Name Surname, Title, Country.jpg”, example: Anne Smith, Summer Garden, Canada.jpg
- No nudes please
Make sure you follow the theme of the year! (Do follow the theme and don’t just take a print out from the drawer!) Where to send your image – two places
1a. AlternativePhotography.com – if you are a Supporting Member
- Email it to talk@alternativephotography.com
- Subject: World Cyanotype Day
- Include Social Media if you have them:
Instagram: (optional, for example:) @alternativephotography_com
Facebook: (optional, for example:) facebook.com/alternativephotography
Bluesky: (optional, for example:) @malinfabbri.bsky.social - If you post on social media, tag us (we will tag you too when we post):
For Instagram tag: @alternativephotography_com
For Facebook tag: AlternativePhotography.com
For BlueSky tag: AlternativePhotography.com - Supporting Members will automatically be included in our exclusive World Cyanotype Gallery and our social media, and you will be tagged.
- Also, send your work to World Cyanotype Day (see below)
1b. AlternativePhotography.com – if you are NOT YET a Supporting Member
- Consider becoming a member and take part as above.
- Everyone is welcome to take part in our social media. If you’re not a member, simply post your cyanotype on Instagram, Facebook or Bluesky, tag us, and we’ll share as many entries as we can throughout the event.
- For Instagram tag: @alternativephotography_com
- For Facebook tag: AlternativePhotography.com
- For BlueSky tag: AlternativePhotography.com
- Also, send your work to World Cyanotype Day (see below)
2. World Cyanotype Day
World Cyanotype Day is hosting its images on Facebook, so a Facebook account is required to take part.
- Join the WorldCyanotypeDay Facebook Group, and you will get details on how to enter.
- More info on: WorldCyanotypeDay.com
What happens when you send your print?
1. If you sent it to AlternativePhotography.com (that is us)
- You will get a confirmation email within 1-4 days. If not, check with us; we have most likely not received it.
- We will show your cyanotype on the AlternativePhotography.com gallery, Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, and YouTube, and other social media channels, some will be exclusive to Supporting Members.
2. WorldCyanotypeDay (who we are supporting)
- They will show your cyanotype on the World Cyanotype Day Facebook group, on the WCD website, and on Instagram.
Read more about World Cyanotype Day and how it all started
World Cyanotype Day came about as a group effort ’round a kitchen table. Here we talk to db Dennis Waltrip, the contact person for the website and the Facebook Group. She does stress that World Cyanotype Day is a group effort and Judy Sherrod – who sadly passed away a few summers ago – was the spark for it all. Read an interview with db Dennis Waltrip on how it all started.
Rated 9,46 - based on 182 votes
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Thank YOU for taking part, AND your kind words!
I am thrilled to have been part of the World Cyanotype Day 2024 and to see my work featured in your gallery. Congratulations on hosting such an important event and for giving us the opportunity to discover so many inspiring works through platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
Your dedication to promoting alternative photography through AlternativePhotography.com and WorldCyanotypeDay.com is remarkable. I hope this work encourages even more artists to participate in the next edition in 2025!
Thank you again for your support and for highlighting the diversity of talent in this field!
Yes, it’s all part of the community. 🙂 Reach out to each other!
Thank you!
You’re welcome!
Thank you so much for all your incredible work, enabling all the cyanotype enthusiasts to share their works!
So happy to be a part of World Cyanotype Day 2024. I recently came across the site and am looking forward to being inspired by all the wonderful artistic expressions and availing myself to some of the books that are offered. Looking at all of the prints from around the world is so inspiring! Thank you Alternative Photography for being out there and having a platform for artists such as myself.
I love the work that has been done this year and forever thankful, it really helps to connect with people working with Cyanotype across the world! Congratulations!
Dear Robert,
Yes, we love to support World Cyanotype Day each year. It’s wonderful to see all the entries. And thank you for being a regular contributor. I belive your score is 100% of participation! Well done!
As a creator and teacher of the Cyanotype Process, I am so thrilled that this incredible process has become more popular than ever. A major reason for this owes its thanks to Alternative Photography and Malin Fabbri! Besides the huge celebration of World Cyanotype Day, there is a great acknowledgement of Anna Atkins, the first woman to illustrate a photography book – and with cyanotypes. Alternative Photography created a wonderful tribute to her in offering a contest. Winners’ cyanotypes created a calendar in tribute to her – and there is also book. Last year’s WCD theme was “Composites”, and Alternative Photography held a competition with all the submitted cyanotypes and specific winners’ works were used to illustrate a monthly calendar. A larger body of winning entries were used in a yearly journal. I look forward to seeing what will happen with this year’s WCD theme of “Enchantment”! Bravo!
Thank YOU for taking part!
Thank you to everyone at Alternative Photography for your hard work and dedication in making World Cyanotype Day such a resounding success. Hugely grateful.
Thank you Richard. We agree. Very high quality!
I’m amazed at the variety of images and ideas people come up with for WCD. The interpretations of the theme range from the very obvious to some fairly eclectic. All of which shows our appreciation for the process and, most especially, for our appreciation for Malin and the AltPhoto lgang’s work that goes in to making all this happen! Sharing is a great way to learn: new subjects, new processes, and modifications to all of the above. Many thanks to all hosts and participants!
Well, thank YOU for taking part!
Dear Malin, it was a pleasure to participate in the World Cyanotype Day international art exhibition, 2021. Thank you Alternative photography for organizing this beautiful unique themed exhibition. It was a pleasure to see so many beautiful Cyanotype artworks. Looking forward to more such exhibitions.
Thank you for participating! It WAS a lot of hard work, but also a LOT of fun!
Thank you Malin and all your team for putting together such a vast collection of WCD entries. In my life every day is WCD and it’s wonderful (especially in these times) to have the opportunity to connect with the world wide Cyanotype community. Huge appreciation from all of us for the INTERCONNECTION. Bloemen&BLUE
Wow, the 2020 World Cyanotype Day gallery is a spectacular feast of cyanotypes! Thank you Alternative Photography!
Amazing initiative. Thank you for connecting us all through this day.
It is so wonderful to see so many different ways of using Cyanotype and so many different interpretations of the theme. Thank you for organizing this event!