The Southsea Cyanotypes

The Southsea Cyanotypes are a series of prints which depict the net curtains that hang in the windows of houses in Southsea, Portsmouth. The work encourages the viewer to look at net curtains with fresh perspective, to see past their domestic function and to observe them as beautiful objects in their own right. The work also intends to preserve the curtains, which are fast disappearing from both windows and shops. As the method used for the first photographically illustrated book, cyanotypes carry connotations of longevity and tradition, two ideas that are associated with net curtains through the use of this process. These cyanotypes were produced on the street outside the houses that they were borrowed from using a mobile contact frame and form an abstract portrait of the streets.