Online Group Exhibition - "A Certain Kind of Blue” March 2021
Analog Forever Magazine is pleased to showcase 81 images in this month’s online exhibition, entitled “A Certain Kind of Blue.” Curated by photographic artist and Assistant Professor in Photography at the University of Tampa, Jaime Aelavanthara, these cyanotype process photographs showcase the diverse range of expressive possibilities within this celebrated historic method. While the cyanotype process is hailed for its simplicity, it is also extraordinarily complex. The selected photographers collaged, toned, stitched, assembled with this process to create both two-dimensional and three-dimensional photographs that push creative boundaries to enhance the emotional quality of their art.
The curator, Jaime Aelavanthara, had this to say:
The selected work in “A Certain Kind of Blue” showcases the diverse range of approaches and subject matter utilizing the Cyanotype process. Viewing hundreds of compelling submissions with an open theme, and having to narrow down a selection from many high-quality submissions was not an easy task.
When selecting the winning piece, I asked, “How does the image make me feel?” Georgian Feidi’s haunting cyanotype conjures mystery and perplexity. There is beauty of ambiguity in the space created, a poetic and fleeting glimpse of existence. Golden tones enhance the atmospheric haze while adding warmth amongst the deep navy blue hues. The human figure reaches upwards in a vast cosmos amongst contrasts of light and dark. During these uncertain times amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, it can feel as if we are suspended within a void, or working to catch a breath of air as we attempt to surface from great depths. To me, this image conjures hope: showing the light breaking through above and around us. If we can continue to grasp for it, we can break through boundaries.
“Listen In Blue” by Georgiana Feidi | Canon AE-1, Cyanotype & Van Dyke on Fabriano Paper
Botanicals abound as subjects in many of these entries, nodding to cyanotype’s historic beginnings, and can represent many motifs: beauty, life, love, death, and fleetingness, to name a few. I was thrilled to see cyanotypes that embraced the chemical qualities of the process through chance and experiments, including the use of mixed media, often adding unexpected and exciting layers to the work. Many works elevated the mundane through elegant composition, including strong use of positive and negative space.
Seeing the breadth of cyanotype work being produced throughout the world was humbling. I want to thank Michael Kirchoff for inviting me to be the juror and congratulate the photographers whose works were chosen. As jurying is a subjective process, I hope all the entrants will continue to hone their creative vision and continue to be inspired by the possibilities within this certain kind of blue: the cyanotype.
~ Jaime Aelavanthara
Gallery
About the Curator
Jaime Aelavanthara, Assistant Professor in Photography at the University of Tampa, received her BFA from the University of Mississippi and her MFA from Louisiana Tech University. Her cyanotypes exploring nature and the human condition have been shown nationally and internationally in venues such as the Center for Fine Art Photography, The SOHO Photo Gallery in New York, Seities Gallery, Canada, and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Her photographs are recently published in Christina Z Anderson’s book Cyanotype: The Blueprint in Contemporary Practice, Focal Press, 2019.