©Bryan Whitney, Calla Lily Bouquet, X-ray Cyanotype

This week we are celebrating the artistry of five unique artists exploring the frontiers of cyanotype. This eclectic cadre takes the medium into energetic and unexpected directions through innovative, experimental approaches. Today the lens is on Bryan Whitney, an artists who stands out within the field of contemporary cyanotype through his innovative use of x-ray imaging. The process, the artist states, allows him to “reveal the inner architecture of botanical forms, offering a symbolic meditation on transparency, transformation, and unity.”

Whitney has recently opened Inflorescence, an exhibition with sculptor Nisha Bansil at Pamela Salisbury Gallery in Hudson, NY (@pamelasalisburyhudson), on view through July 20, 2025.

An interview with the artist follows.

©Bryan Whitney, Astrantia Major, X-ray Cyanotype

Bryan Whitney is a photographer and artist in New York City whose work involves experimental imaging techniques including x-rays, lensless imaging and alternative processes such as cyanotype. Whitney holds an MFA in Photography from the Tyler School of Art and a BA in the Psychology of Art from University of Michigan. He has taught photography at Rutgers University and currently teaches at the International Center of Photography in New York City and the New York Botanical Garden. A recipient of a Fulbright Grant for lectures on American Photography he has exhibited across the United States and internationally. His work has appeared in magazines such as Harpers Bazaar, Fortune, the New York Times, as well as being featured in books, posters and billboards. His X-ray botanical images have recently been acquired as a stamp designs by the US Postal Service.

Follow Bryan on Instagram: @temporarypedestal
Project website: x-rayphotography.com
Vimeo

Portrait of Bryan Whitney. Courtesy the artist.

Artist Statement

My work explores the intersection of art, science, and the unseen forces that shape our perception of reality. Using x-ray imaging—a medium typically reserved for medical or scientific purposes—I reveal the inner architecture of botanical forms, offering a symbolic meditation on transparency, transformation, and unity.

I was first introduced to x-ray imaging through my wife, a conservator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she uses such techniques to examine objects beneath their surfaces. Drawn to the poetic possibilities of this invisible spectrum, I began experimenting with objects not typically x-rayed. Over the past two decades, I have developed a unique process, working with extra-large format film (17 x 22”) that is hand-developed in trays, merging analog techniques with digital refinement.

For me, the art object is more than an image—it is a tactile vessel for thought, emotion, and memory. I craft my own frames from raw maple lumber, staining them blue to echo the cyanotype prints they contain. These elements coalesce into a single expressive entity—what the Germans call a Gesamtkunstwerk, or “total work of art.”

My process is rooted in the physical: from the creation of 1:1 scale x-rays (no lenses involved) to hand-coating watercolor paper with cyanotype solution and developing the final print in water. Each step is an act of care and attention—digital techniques are used only when the human eye and hand can do better than automation.

I often draw inspiration from the local flora of the Catskills, where I retreat to my two off-grid cabins for solitude and renewal. This connection to nature deepened during the Covid era, when daily hikes led to new bodies of work, including “Enchanted Forest”—a series of fisheye portraits of trees—and “GAZE,” an immersive installation using enlarged 19th-century tintypes mounted on fabric.

My botanical x-rays are not portraits of individual plants, but votive images that invoke their archetypal essence. The Lotus, for example, is a favorite—not only for its spiritual symbolism, but for the unexpected miniature world some viewers glimpse at its center, reminiscent of a Brueghel painting.

Ultimately, my work invites viewers to look beyond surfaces—to see through, into, and across the boundaries that separate form from spirit, science from art, and object from essence.

©Bryan Whitney, Lotus, X-ray Cyanotype

Why cyanotype?

Bryan Whitney: The blue of the cyanotype print, like black and white photography, abstracts the photographic image. This abstraction is meaningful for my type of imagery.

©Bryan Whitney, Poppies, X-ray Cyanotype

©Bryan Whitney, Birds Nest Fern, X-ray Cyanotype

When was the first time you encountered the medium?

BW: When I was 15 years old I made my first cyanotypes of 19th century glass plates owned by a friend’s great grandfather. After this initial experience I did not pick up the process again until graduate school. Recently I have been using cyanotype exclusively in my work as it is the perfect medium for printing my x-ray botanicals.

©Bryan Whitney, Scabiousa Pods, X-ray Cyanotype

©Bryan Whitney, Eucalyptus, X-ray Cyanotype

What about this photographic process interests you the most?

BW: Its simplicity. There is an alchemical magic about two chemicals that when mixed and exposed to UV-light turn a vivid blue. This simple chemical transformation in response to light is pure magic. The process hearkens back to the earliest days of photography and its handmade qualities give great satisfaction.

©Bryan Whitney, Tassel Fern, X-ray Cyanotype

©Bryan Whitney, Proteus, X-ray Cyanotype

How do the particularities of the medium relate to your overall artistic philosophies?

BW: The variability of cyanotype make it a more experimental process than digital which is endlessly repeatable. It is an art that requires skill and understanding of the materials, which, when it works well, expresses a harmony of process. There is also an element of chance which you have to embrace. For instance the pH of the water, the humidity in the air, the type of paper and brushes used have a distinct effect on the final image. Since I enjoy experimentation and seeing how a process can be changed and tweaked to do new things the cyanotype process is captivating.

©Bryan Whitney, Horsetails, X-ray Cyanotype

©Bryan Whitney, Palm Leaves, X-ray Cyanotype

Have you developed your own process working in this medium? If so, can you guide us through it?

BW: My process begins with making an x-ray. This is a special imaging technique that uses no cameras or lenses.  X-rays are beamed from an x-ray machine through the object onto a sheet of x-ray sensitive film similar to how a photogram is made. Since the image created is life size I use very large sheets of film which are hand developed and scanned. The digital image is then carefully adjusted for contrast and detail and separated from the background, a process that is similar to drawing. The cyanotype process has a short and contrasty tonal scale, therefore the image has to be converted to match this scale with a tonal curve that has been created by experimentation. Finally an inverted / negative version of the image is digitally printed on a clear material.

©Bryan Whitney, Rose, X-ray Cyanotype

©Bryan Whitney, Umbrella Fern, X-ray Cyanotype

I coat a 20 x 24” sheet of Arches Platine watercolor paper with the cyanotype solution (a 1:1 mixture of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide in water) using a wide natural bristle “Hake” brush under conditions of about 50% humidity. I add a few drops of “Tween”, a surfactant that reduces surface tension and helps to get an even coverage of the cyanotype solution. After drying in the dark, the coated watercolor paper is placed in tight contact with the negative image under glass and exposed to UV-light. The source of the UV-light could be the sun but in my case I use a machine emitting LED UV-light. The UV-light causes a chemical reacting in the cyanotype solution, creating the blue image. The paper is then immersed in running water, washing away any unexposed cyanotype solution from the paper, leaving the positive blue image.

©Bryan Whitney, Iris, X-ray Cyanotype

Have you encountered limitations with the medium, and if so, what were they and how have you tried to overcome them? 

BW: The tonal scale of the cyanotype image is limited and has a high contrast which has to be accounted for. Cyanotype images tend to be more “graphic” but with proper technique one can get a smoother tonal range.

©Bryan Whitney, Cactus, X-ray Cyanotype

©Bryan Whitney, Chrysanthemum, X-ray Cyanotype

How do you think the public perception of cyanotype has changed in the art world?

BW: Cyanotypes have become popular because they are hand made and unique. The process is closer to painting and drawing than a digitally produced image. The cyanotype is imbedded within the fibers of the paper rather than printed with ink on top of the paper like a digital print creating a different sensibility.