An ongoing series of abstract cyanotypes, very similar in process to those on paper, but very different in effect. They developed alongside a concerted interest in John Constable’s cloud studies, painted on Hampstead Heath in 1821–22, on which are written the location, time, and conditions to which the painting was exposed.

As with the photographs, they are both a record of the specific light to which they are exposed, and of the more general environment. I.e., during the 24 hours exposing the first work presented here a snail passed along the bottom-left corner and, although most of the trail was removed when developing, some remained—a rather fortuitous analogue of the indexicality of the photographic image. Similarly, the light rain which fell whilst exposing the third work dramatically complicated the image and the notion of exposure.

Without knowledge of their photographic nature they appear simply as deep monochromes, and assert the specificity of the light and the space in which they are viewed here and now. Yet they retain an ineliminable connection to a different time and place. Etc.

Cyanotype on cotton drill
69 x 48 cm