Distant Aviary

'Distant Aviary', 2021

 Cyanotype toned in mint leaves and green tea on Fabriano Academia paper, wood frame with AR70 glass 

These aviary prints are part of 'Enmeshed', my series of cyanotypes on Fabriano Accademia paper, created for Michaela Nettell’s book ‘LESS A BUILDING: Interactions with the London Zoo Aviary’, published September 2021.

These cyanotypes originate from photographs, many taken by me on 35mm film during the Covid-19 pandemic enforced isolation period, when the aviary was undergoing transformation, others taken by Michaela Nettell earlier, when the aviary could still be entered.  I developed my Ilford HP5 Plus film in a homemade leaf solution, and exposed the cyanotypes in sunlight. Some prints in this series were also toned in leaves or wine tannin. The interaction of nature and the man-made is key in both subject and process of this work.