As part of our continuing relationship with St Helens collaborative and social arts agency, ‘Heart of Glass’ their artist in residence Sophie Mahon recently visited Rainford to run a workshop with our Year 10 Art, Design and Photography students.
In the workshop, the students were taught the photographic process of Sun Prints, otherwise known as Cyanotypes.
Sun prints have been used to make records of plants for hundreds of years. Sun print paper is coated with chemicals which react when exposed to sunlight. When you place objects, such as leaves on the paper, they block the light so that the paper remains white while the areas on the paper around the leaves turn a beautiful Prussian blue. Water stops the process and fixes your images on the paper.
As well as learning a new skill, our students created some stunning outcomes!