Cyanotype vs Minimalism

サイアノタイプ / ミニマリズム

Cyanotype comes from Photographic Techniques and Minimalism from Functionalism. One is technique and the other style. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.

Cyanotype

Cyanotype — Anna Atkins, Dictyota dichotoma, 1843–53 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainCyanotype — アトキンス『英国の藻類』第3巻 — Wikimedia Commons / CC0Cyanotype — 建築図面の青写真 1902 — Wikimedia Commons / No restrictions

Fixes the outline of a light-struck object directly into deep blue, making record and lyric the same image.

Minimalism

Minimalism — Agnes Martin 作品, SFMOMA 展示 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0Minimalism — Agnes Martin 作品群, SFMOMA 展示 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0Minimalism — Dan Flavin《Untitled (to Don Judd, Colorist) 1–5》1987, Tate Modern — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

Removes elements to maximize the meaning and tension of what remains.

CyanotypeMinimalism
Era1842–1960s–
FamilyPhotographic TechniquesFunctionalism
KindTechniqueStyle
CuesPrussian blue / White object traces / Contact shadows / Chemical unevennessVast white space / Few elements / Quiet color / Precise spacing
Best used forDirectly recording plants, materials and objects · Adding the trace of handwork to drawings and archivesFocusing attention on a single value · Letting quality speak quietly
TypeWhite or pale letters; add small classification labelsA light sans-serif or a well-cut serif
CompositionLead with the object's contour; keep generous blue around itOne message, one focal point, wide margins
MaterialOne deep blue and the paper's white; don't polish away the exposure marksNearly achromatic; texture in exactly one place
CautionA blue filter is not the technique. Understand contact image, exposure and support.Missing information is not minimal. Decide priorities before you cut.

Put these two together

Photographic Techniques ／ Functionalism

IndexStyle