Printing with Copper: The Cuprotype Process

Instructor: Anne Eder | Dates: Thursdays, March 12 - April 2 | Time: 6-8 PM | Tuition: $485 (Members) $570 (Non-Members) | Class Size Max: 10

This four-week course explores the cuprotype process, a nineteenth-century photographic printing method that uses copper salts to create richly toned prints. The process is activated by ferric ammonium citrate, the same light-sensitive catalyst used in cyanotype, making cuprotype similarly accessible while offering a broader tonal range. Through chemical toning, practitioners can achieve an expanded palette of colors, ranging from buttery golds and soft pinks to coppers, deep purples, and neutral tones.

Through lectures, demonstrations, and group discussion, this online course guides students through the cuprotype process from start to finish. Topics include creating digital negatives, mixing chemistry, coating paper, calculating exposure, and clearing and toning prints for both stability and color control. The course also introduces ferroblending, a hybrid approach that combines multiple photographic processes. By the end of the course, students will have the learned the foundational skills necessary to continue making cuprotypes on their own.

ANNE EDER is an interdisciplinary artist and educator. She is faculty at Harvard University Ceramics program, guest faculty at Princeton University, and holds a master’s degree in Photography and Integrated Media from Lesley University College of Art and Design where she studied with Christopher James, author of the Book of Alternative Processes. 

She has won multiple awards, including four Julia Margaret Cameron Awards, a first place series JMC and two International Pollux Awards for alternative process. Her work has been published internationally and her gum bichromate images and studio practice are featured in Gum Printing: A Step-By-Step Manual Highlighting Artists and Their Creative Practice by Christina Z. Anderson, published by Focal Press/Routledge. She teaches a range of courses in experimental analog and interdisciplinary processes. anneeder.com