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(click images to enlarge)

Our May show at Ampersand features several antique cyanotype photographs of botanical specimens made by an anonymous photographer around 1900. Drawing its title from a penciled caption below one image, From the Winter Woods in part celebrates the emergence of spring flora & the promise of sunnier weather. The cyanotype printing process itself depends upon a chemical reaction between ultraviolet light, such as sunlight, & chemically treated paper. Specimens can be placed directly onto the paper, creating a silhouette effect, or a negative can be placed upon the treated surface to create a positive contact print, as is the case with these photographs. From the Winter Woods also celebrates the intersection of science & photography & the uncanny beauty the two create when joined together. The photographer who made these images was not only skilled with the mechanics of the camera & the chemistry of printing, he or she also had an advanced eye for the subtleties of arrangement. Looking closely, one sees specimen pins, pools of water cupped in leaves & a butterfly poised upon a blossom, small details that suggest an intent beyond a mere record of plant species. But this, too, is not ignored; each of the photographs is captioned with botanical names, yet so faintly it invites one to assume that this photographer was more concerned with the taxonomy of beauty.

More images here.

And check out our May Sideshow here.