In the studio this morning I printed my Nebuli negative, something that’s been on my mind as an image for a couple of years. Originally part of the reclusive Lady Mary Tennant series, ( on the Insta). I had a feeling that the moon and clouds and stardust would lend themselves to Khadi paper and the process.
We can’t imagine Cyanotypes without thinking about Herschel. And we can’t imagine Nebuli without thinking how his father William influenced astronomy. Originally a musician, he got into stargazing and went on to make his own telescopes. The observations he made and the planets he found (including Uranus) changed the face of astronomy. Along the way, his son John worked alongside his pa and needed to replicate his notes. John Herschel came up with mixing the iron salts to create a light-sensitive emulsion from which he made blueprints. Cyan or blue prints. He’s our boy.
Ever quick to absorb the techniques, the nascent photographers of the 1840’s took to Cyan-blue mirrorless photography, and then contact printing negatives.
I make my own negatives and play with papers and emulsion in the dimroom. Todays prints were star-gazing salt pot posies, the Nebuli, and a mushroom. I listened to Melvyn Bragg on his podcast about Herschel and printed away. Star-gazing posies in a salt pot, moons and mushrooms.
I am headed to the Chichester Farmer’s Market on Friday 3rd December. Let’s pray for calm weather and Christmas crowds.