A photograph so large it took up most of an entire bridge could break a world record for the world’s largest cyanotype. Created by a group of artists and nearly 100 volunteers in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the cyanotype stretches more than 430 feet long.
Bobby Philips (@improvgnosis), filmmaker and director of Yeah Media, and Meg Roach (@adventuretextiles), cyanotype and fabric artist and Owner of Adventure Textiles, together with nearly 100 community volunteers, took over the Blue Bridge, a pedestrian bridge in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on the summer solstice and set out around 430 feet of pre-treated, light-sensitive fabric.
Gathering an arrangement of objects from their childhood, more than 80 people then laid down on the fabric, holding still for about 10 minutes, to expose the cyanotype. The sun then worked its magic, creating a cyanotype silhouette of everything on the fabric. The image measures roughly 430 feet long by 7.5 feet tall – or about 3,200 square feet.
To prevent the beginning of the roll of fabric from being brighter than the end, the team timed the roll out in sections, then timed the roll up so that each section was only exposed to the sun for about 10 minutes…