From Loring Knoblauch’s extensive review of Brian Buckley’s exhibition “Uncertainty” for Collector Daily:
When a contemporary photographer chooses to use an antique process like cyanotype, one of the primary reasons for the decision is often a desire to reintroduce some hand-crafted unpredictability back into the art-making flow. In an age where the perfection of digital reproduction is the norm, embracing the uncertainty of hand-applied chemicals can be liberating, if only because it makes room for the inspirations of chance and accident.
The deep blue color of cyanotype is the hallmark of one of its pioneers, Anna Atkins, whose mid 19th century botanical studies combined scientific rigor with natural precision and elegance. And while it is still entirely possible to make cyanotype photograms in much the same way Atkins did more than a century ago (using hand coated papers and the light of the sun), Brian Buckley’s recent works expand the traditional cyanotype palette to include a range of other ethereal hues, by experimenting with the addition of watercolor pigments to the traditional chemical mix. Not only do his works probe the depths of various blues, soft versions of orange, pink, purple, and yellow open up other atmospheric alternatives.
Browse the exhibition “Uncertainty” at ClampArt
Browse all of Brian Buckley’s work at ClampArt