New book of cyanotype landscapes coming soon

Posted on August 19, 2021September 9, 2021 by carlotta

New book of cyanotype landscapes coming soon

I am very pleased to announce that my new book sea shore will be ready in time for my Artwave show in September. The first edition of 100 copies will be printed over the next week and then I will begin the process of hand binding them all. The book is a collection of 29 cyanotypes of sea and shoreline landscapes, with two poems written specifically for this project by American poet Sara London.

My photo this week is the image on the cover of the book. This curved wave was photographed in Newhaven during a winter storm. The unusual shape came, I think, from the force of the wave rebounding against the arm of the breakwater and circling back into the harbour.

I headed to the coast early in the morning the day after the worst of the storm. The wind was still fierce but the sky was clear. Low sunlight skimmed across the water, highlighting every ridge and wrinkle on the wind-whipped surface and catching in the white spray of the waves.

In my Artwave exhibit I will be showing the original hand-printed cyanotypes used for sea shore, several of them printed as large, multi-panelled prints, as well as having the book itself available to buy. I have also been working with architectural imagery, creating cyanotypes from some of my recent projects, including Brighton’s Madeira Terrace and the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange.

I will be exhibiting with the painter Kelly Hall again this year. Our show will be open over the last three weekends in September at St Anne’s House, 111 High Street, Lewes, BN7 1XY.

Information about pre-ordering sea shore is here. All my hand-printed cyanotypes are available to buy. Information about purchasing my prints and books can be found here. Please contact me if you have a workplace, an event, a celebration, a portrait or a building project you would like to have photographed.

shelter from the storm

Posted on July 2, 2021August 25, 2021 by carlotta

Shelter from the storm

I have been hard at work planning my book of hand-printed cyanotypes that explore that restless space between land and sea. It will be published as a hand-bound, limited-edition book sea|shore and will be available at my Artwave exhibit in September or by pre-ordering. More details here.

My photo this week is taken from my new book. This image was one of the first cyanotypes I worked on when I began experimenting with this new medium last year.

Although the photograph was taken in the aftermath of a fierce winter storm, and huge waves were still crashing on the far side of the breakwater, the sheltering arm of the pier protected the safety of the harbour. There is something about this image that I find deeply reassuring. I have had it on my office wall since I first printed it.

If you would like information about pre-ordering my book please get in touch. All my hand-printed cyanotypes are available to buy. Information about purchasing my prints and books can be found here.

Stormy cyanotype seas

Posted on April 22, 2021August 25, 2021 by carlotta

Stormy cyanotype seas

As the days brighten and lengthen, I have had renewed energy to focus on new projects, so I am pushing ahead with my book of sea and shore cyanotypes. My ideas are finally crystallising around how the book will work. I will keep you posted on how it goes and when it will become available.

Making cyanotypes is a rather lengthy process. Printing out my negatives onto acetate film takes about half an hour each. I make a contact print by placing the acetate over paper that I have coated with cyanotype solution which is then exposed to ultraviolet light for around 40 minutes. After the print has been washed in water, I leave it to dry in sunlight, which helps to deepen and enrich the tones.

This print is one of my favourites. It feels to me like it comes from another era, although it was taken 18 months ago just down the road in the industrial setting of Newhaven harbour. The ominous force of that wave against the pier brings to my mind seafaring exploits of past centuries, and the terrible storms and deadly shipwrecks associated with them.

All my hand-printed cyanotypes are available to buy. Get in touch for more information. You can find more of my cyanotypes here, and my book of Lewes Bonfire cyanotypes here.

Please get in touch if you have a workplace, an event, a celebration, a portrait or a building project you would like to have photographed.

Newhaven Harbour in the storm

Posted on February 14, 2020 by carlotta

Newhaven Harbour in the storm

I went out on Sunday morning to attempt to photograph the storm waves battering the shoreline. Although it wasn’t raining, the sea spray was so strong that my camera lens was immediately too wet to take photographs. It was worth the trip anyway. The shore was crowded with people wanting to witness the power or the sea.

I tried again the next morning, with the sky clear and bright. I was rewarded with one of the most beautiful views of the sea that I have ever seen. The sun had just risen and was casting a low light across the water. The glow of it sparkled across the surface while throwing deep shadows behind the waves.

On one side of the breakwater, three surfers were catching the big rollers coming smoothly into shore. On the other side, the water was a turmoil of huge waves, bright white foam and spray blown by the blasting wind into delicate feathers. I sat on the beach for a long time, feeling elated. When I got home, I realised that my face was covered in salt from the sea spray.

I struggled to decide which photo of the storm to use today, so do take a look at the others here and let me know if you think I chose the right one. All my landscape photos can be found here as well.

Please get in touch if you have a workplace, an event, a celebration, a portrait or a building project you would like to have photographed.

Storm waves in Newhaven

Posted on October 18, 2019October 21, 2019 by carlotta

Storm waves in Newhaven

Yet again, here is a watery photo of the week. Last Friday I heard there would be large waves in Newhaven so I set out to track them down. Conditions were terrible for photographing. It was pouring with rain, making it nearly impossible to see through either my glasses or my lens, the sky was dark and the wind was fierce. But the waves were spectacular, which made it all worthwhile.

I love when photography can show us what the naked eye is unable to see. Catching this wave hitting the pier portrays water that looks more like a solid than a liquid, and gives us an inkling of the force that must be pushing against that sea wall. You can see more of my landscape photographs here.

Please get in touch if you have an event (a storm, even!), a celebration or a portrait you would like to have photographed or a building project documented.

Summer solstice sunrise sea row

Posted on July 4, 2019March 4, 2021 by carlotta

Summer solstice sunrise sea row

Welcome to Photo of the Week, here to brighten up your inbox.

I hope every one of you had a good Summer solstice. In my last blog post I was heading out bright and early the following day for a sunrise row on the sea. It is pitch dark at 3.30am in June, but there was a faint glow towards the east by the time I had driven the short distance to Newhaven, where we were launching the boat.

We set out shortly after the huge Dieppe ferry arrived at 4am. It towered above us as we headed for the harbour mouth. After rowing for months on a lake (it’s just a large pond, really) and a couple of times on the river, I was shocked by how different if felt to row at sea.

The large swells lifted and moved the boat in unexpected ways, at times making the oars sink too deeply into the water, and at others, push nothing but air. Outside the harbour our gig boat felt small and insignificant in the open water.

That’s the moon hanging above the harbour breakwater in the rosey dawn glow before the 4.15 sunrise. In case you are wondering, it was completely worth the lack of sleep to be out there on the water to experience this. And yes, I did follow up the row with a swim, two swims actually, one after the row and one as the sun set at 9.15pm. You can see more photos of my landscape photographs here.

Please get in touch if you have an event, a celebration or a portrait you would like to have photographed.

Tag: Newhaven