“It is a technique that does not require artistic talent”: Toulouse rediscovers the cyanotype, the ancestor of the photo

A little blue here, a little blue there. Meanwhile, This summer. Moreover, four monuments in Toulouse, the chapel of La Grave, the water tower, the Garonne Grand Park house and the Paul Dupuy museum, highlight an artistic process: the cyanotype. Similarly, Ancestor of photography discovered in 1842, this technique combines chemistry and creation. Moreover, Among these monuments, the Paul Dupuy Museum offers all -public initiation workshops.

Reconnect with the beginnings of photography – "it technique does not require

In mid-July. Furthermore, a dozen people participated in the workshop in the walls of the Paul Dupuy Museum in Toulouse. Furthermore, For two hours, the participants discovered and practiced “it technique does not require step by step the cyanotype technique. This process, discovered by chemist John William Herschel in 1842, was experienced by British botanist Anna Atkins. It consists of coating paper from a photosensitive solution from two chemicals (ferric ammonium citrate. potassium ferricyanure), let dry, place plants, negatives or flat objects and cover it all with a glass plate.

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During the workshop. the participants lent themselves to the game before exhibiting their works in the sun, in the museum’s courtyard. In less than two minutes, the magic operates: creations have absorbed UV rays and adopted a pale blue dye. Next comes the rinse phase in the water that gives the final touch: the works are adorned with white. patterns on a royal blue “it technique does not require background. The most daring even tried the experience with oxygenated water. The creations then turned to the Bleu de Prussia.

A process that reconnects with the beginnings of photography fallen into oblivion. Janis Roblès. cultural mediator with the collective, animates the session: “It is an instant technique that does not require artistic talent”, she explains.

A workshop led by the association Les Mirettes

During the summer. the Paul Dupuy Museum in Toulouse offers a cyanotype workshop per month. An initiative carried by the association Les Mirette. Without needing to draw, paint, or photograph, budding artists, children and adults, can familiarize themselves with cyanotype.

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Magali, one of the participants, testifies to this: “I did not know “it technique does not require at all. Before coming, I was looking for activities for children and teens. And when I found the workshop, I quickly inquired about what it was,” she says. Likewise for Colette: “I knew it was a question of mixing chemicals, but I did not know the technique. It is very accessible to children and adults, and my granddaughter would like to try again at home,” she smiles.

Other workshops are held in different monuments in Toulouse.