Rooftop Handmade Dog Cyanotype

Bill Ritchie making Handmade Dog Cyanotype No. 23

The gravel-covered rooftop of Seattle's historic Journal of Commerce building was perfect for making the cyanotypes. Access was through a hatch in the ceiling of Triangle Studios. At midday, I packed my prepared papers in a light-proof folder, climbed the ladder and out into the June sun, spread my mat, stripped, and I soaked up some rays while the UV did its thing to the chemical coating the paper. After some minutes, I repacked the paper, dressed, and went down to the studio washroom to wash out the unexposed places. The exposed places turned blue - now insoluble Prussian blue pigment. It took a month to make the series this way.