The Iron-Toned Blues

The iron-based toners for use on gelatin silver prints bear a striking similarity to the chemistry of cyanotypes, which explains the nearly identical range of blues found in iron-toned gelatin silver prints and cyanotypes. The blue of the cyanotype was an often derided color, so it's not surprising that the blue toners were seldom used. Other than this 5" x 7" found at a flea market, the only iron-toned gelatin silver prints we are familiar with are those made by Edward Curtis during his Hollywood years in the 1920s, typically film stills or Aphrodite imagery.