Aþenudagar / Μέρες Αθήνας / Days in Athens, N°11 Photograph

Indulge in Athens’s unparalleled cityscape allure during the enchanting spring of 2023 with ‘Days in Athens’—an enthralling collection of 14 meticulously curated cyanotype photographs that intricately capture the city’s diverse architectural forms, undulating landscapes, and the captivating interplay of light. Each image is a window into Athens’s extraordinary charm and timeless elegance, inviting viewers on an immersive visual odyssey through its historic thoroughfares and captivating scenery. Shooting technique I shot the images using a vintage Leica IIIc camera from 1943, with a Summitar 5cm f/2 lens, on Ricoh Retro 400 film. After processing them, I photographed the negatives and retouched them in Capture One before printing full-size digital negatives for contact printing. Cyanotype photographs: the process These images are not mere photographs but a testament to the meticulous artistry of the cyanotype process, which traces its origins back to 1842. A solution of photosensitive iron salts is delicately painted upon watercolour paper. Once dry, a digital negative is carefully sandwiched with the paper and illuminated with ultraviolet light. The resulting blue image is a cyanotype photograph, a unique and captivating art form. I then proceeded to bleach the image lightly before toning it in a solution made from white Aleppo oak gall nuts, adding depth and character to the composition with darker iron grey and lighter reddish brown hues.