Josie Iselin has been offering workshops in cyanotype printing with algae & seaweed specimens for over three years. This one-day class on creating cyanotype photography with seaweed offers a fun, easy, and rewarding experience in printmaking using the cyanotype technique as well as an introduction to seaweed and algae ecology.

The cyanotype process, also known as the blueprint process because of its deep blue color, was first introduced in the early 1800s. Anna Atkins was one of the first people to put the cyanotype process to use and in the mid-1800s became the first person to produce and photographically illustrate a book using cyanotype printing.

Josie will describe the work of Anna Atkin’s first photographically illustrated book, British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, as well as her own work using the scanner and algae, as an introduction to the 3 1/2-hour, one-day class. You’ll also learn a bit about the algae and seaweeds themselves and a bit of the history of their ecology.

Josie will provide coated cyanotype paper and loads of specimens to use in making cyanotype prints as well as demonstrate how to make a cyanotype and offer suggestions. You’ll make your own modern cyanotypes, and go home with your very own cyanotype art, usually something frame-worthy.

For artists and scientists, this cyanotype workshop is rewarding. Experimentation is encouraged, no mistakes are possible in cyanotype art!

*Per Public Health Orders in effect for Marin County, masks are strongly recommended, but not required.
People may choose to mask at any time.
We support those who wish to continue to mask indoors, including those who are immunocompromised or otherwise concerned.

Workshop presented by The Image Flow Photography Center, providing photography classes, custom printing services, and fine art reproductions.

Instructor Bio

Josie Iselin

Josie Iselin is the photographer, author, and designer of many books exploring our coastal universe, including The Curious World of Seaweed published in 2019, an ambitious combination of essays and historical as well as contemporary imagery. This book chronicles the natural history as well as the history of science of sixteen iconic Pacific coast seaweeds and kelps. Iselin uses her visual art practice—the act of looking closely—as the stimulus for her scientific research and storytelling.
Josie Iselin holds a BA in visual and environmental studies from Harvard and an MFA from San Francisco State University. Josie is based in San Francisco.