From the wonderful Chautauqua Belle of my last cyanotype blog post we're heading over to a tiny village in the Czech Republic, a village where time stopped a long time ago. A village with a strong personal connection for me.

After I visited the village of Horní Rozsíčka in 2019 after more than two decades and mentioned to my Mom that it felt like time stopped there she agreed and added that time had in fact stopped there back in the 1980s. I spent about an hour walking around with two cameras. I had Kodak Double-X loaded in my trusty Nikon FE and Kodak Ektar 100 in the plastic fantastic Nikon N75. I walked the main loop circling the village, I added the loop that went by the orchard, fields, and barn, and I also walked down the short hill towards a house called Pazderna. And of course, I idled a bit by the two houses where my grandparents lived.

The "new" one they lived in was hard to see. The whole house was overgrown by the surrounding vegetation reminding me of a Czech version of the Sleeping Beauty fairy-tale where the whole castle of the Rose Kingdom was overgrown by roses. The one across the street, the "old cottage" serving as a farm house, was also rather overgrown on three sides but at least the side facing the street was unobstructed. That became the focus on my photographic attention and later became the "House of Memories" darkroom print, a lith print, and a cyanotype.

In today's post I am sharing a new take on the "House of Memories" printing it from a different negative where I opened the shadows a bit more and chose the Shizen Design watercolor paper with its strong texture. The texture disrupts the photo in a way I really like, the recycled content of the paper further adds to its unpredictability, and finally, I also printed two versions. One straight blue cyanotype and one cyanotype toned in green tea.

House of Memories, Cyanotype IIHorní Rozsíčka, Czech Republic

House of Memories, Horní Rozsíčka, Czech Republic, An Original Hand-Made 5" x 7" Cyanotype
Chemically printed on a hand-coated Shizen Design textured watercolor paper

The alternative version was printed the same way as the blue cyanotype above. However, once the print was done, I allowed it to dry and react to oxygen for about 24 hours. Then I fully bleached it and toned it in green tea. 

House of Memories, Tea Toned Cyanotype IIHorní Rozsíčka, Czech Republic

House of Memories, Horní Rozsíčka, Czech Republic, An Original Hand-Made 5" x 7" Tea Toned Cyanotype
Chemically printed on a hand-coated Shizen Design textured watercolor paper, bleached and toned in green tea

I also remembered another path we used as kids. It was a dirt road shortcut to an old school house and then down to a sister village of Dolní Rozsíčka. Cherry trees lined a section of the path and were a favorite spot when the cherries were ripe. I only walked a short distance and back. On my way back, this wonderful view opened up.

On the Way from School, CyanotypeHorní Rozsíčka, Czech Republic

On the Way from School, Horní Rozsíčka, Czech Republic, An Original Hand-Made 5" x 7" Cyanotype
Chemically printed on a hand-coated Shizen Design textured watercolor paper

Since this was a tea toning session, I also printed an extra to be bleached and toned in green tea. Compare the feel of that version below.

On the Way from School, Tea Toned CyanotypeHorní Rozsíčka, Czech Republic

On the Way from School, Horní Rozsíčka, Czech Republic, An Original Hand-Made 5" x 7" Tea Toned Cyanotype
Chemically printed on a hand-coated Shizen Design textured watercolor paper, bleached and toned in green tea

And finally, the third pair of today's cyanotypes is from a corner that I must have walked and run countless times as a child. It led to couple of my friends, it led to the village pond where we climbed its fence and fished, it led to the village center with a small circle a mobile grocery bus would stop  at twice a week and people would form a line for their chance to do their shopping.

U Vlachů, CyanotypeHorní Rozsíčka, Czech Republic

U Vlachů, Horní Rozsíčka, Czech Republic, An Original Hand-Made 5" x 7" Cyanotype
Chemically printed on a hand-coated Shizen Design textured watercolor paper

And of course, the second green tea toned version.

U Vlachů, Tea Toned CyanotypeHorní Rozsíčka, Czech Republic

U Vlachů, Horní Rozsíčka, Czech Republic, An Original Hand-Made 5" x 7" Tea Toned Cyanotype
Chemically printed on a hand-coated Shizen Design textured watercolor paper, bleached and toned in green tea

At some point, I want to do more with my photos from this tiny forgotten village where I spent many summers and weekends as a kid. I may even need to return once or twice more to gather additional material. Initially, I thought I'd hold all of these photos until such grand reveal but then decided to take it one step at a time and share what I have now. I hope you have enjoyed this cyanotype sequel and a brief glimpse into a place of my childhood.

Enjoy The Beauty That Surrounds You! #etbtsy

Previous posts in the Cyanotypes series: 1. First Cyanotype - 2. More Cyanotypes - 3. Highlands Cyanotypes - 4. How do Cyanotypes Happen? - 5. Cyanotypes V: Tweaking the Curve - 6. Cyanotypes VI: Toning - 7. Cyanotypes VII: More Toning - 8. Cyanotypes VIII: Toning Different Papers - 9. Cyanotypes IX: Horní Rozsíčky

If you like cyanotypes you can explore the Cyanotypes Photo Gallery dedicated to my growing collection of them. Would you like to browse through traditional darkroom wet prints? Visit my Darkroom Photo Gallery and enjoy! Do not hesitate to contact me whether you would like to learn more or would like to purchase one of my prints.

Chautauqua Belle SteamboatShizen Design Cyanotype Chautauqua Belle SteamboatTea Toned Cyanotype Chautauqua Belle SteamboatMeeden Cyanotype  

Karlštejn CastleCyanotype Karlštejn CastleCyanotype