Cristina Saez’s portfolio was chosen as a Work of Merit by Christopher James in the 2024 Denis Roussel Awards.

“This portfolio represents, I believe, the essence of what motivated and inspired Denis Roussel… a blending of magic, creative human response with the barest of materials and collaboration with the natural world and what it offers. Your portfolio is so wonderfully painterly and expresses the element of gesture so well, an attribute that photography fails to achieve throughout most of its history.

I love camera-less image making and think that your driving interest in interpreting global environmental issues with this work is on point. It is particularly relevant that you are using water from the geographical location you are representing, along with whatever sediment or contamination that may be in the water… I love the context of materials and concept. My question is: are you using water from that location throughout the process, e.g., sensitizer A & B, wash-development water, and toning solutions? Lastly, please look at the free form cyanotype work of a former MFA student of mine, Lys Cianci. I think that you would enjoy it. In the meantime, really nice work. I especially love Only One Water and the fact that all of the water on earth was here, to the drop, when the planet was formed. So cool!” Christopher James 

Would you please tell us about yourself?

I am a photographer and visual artist with a long term interest in how people perceive and relate to their environment, and how different ways of portraying the world relate to our understanding of our place in it. My current practice deals with global environmental and social issues using analogue photographic processes in innovative ways and through installations and sculptural works made from waste.

Born in Bilbao, Spain I studied photography in London after graduating in psychology and now live in Switzerland, South of the Alps.

Please tell us about the portfolio you submitted to the Denis Roussel Award.

Only One Water is an ongoing series of cameraless cyanotypes made with water collected from different natural and human-made sources in locations around the world.
In the face of current issues around the availability and uneven distribution of freshwater worldwide, this project is a reminder that all forms of life on this planet are connected through the water which supports our existence and the universal laws it follows.

The title refers to the fact that every drop of water on earth was here when the planet was formed and has been following its endless cycle for nearly five billion years, knowing no borders. There has always been, and there will only ever be, one water, for all of us, for all of (our) time.

Please tell us about your process.

I collect small samples of water from the location I am portraying, along with whatever sediment or debris it holds, and use it to “paint” onto the paper coated with cyanotype emulsion (which I prepare at home from raw chemistry and water from my tap).
I carefully handle the paper as it dries under the sun, creating pools of colour and oxidation which hold a material trace of the landscape in them. Every print is the unique result of an interaction between the cyanotype emulsion, weather conditions, the water and my own gesture.

What is the most frustrating part of the process?

When the weather changes unexpectedly during my exposures (which can take anything from twenty minutes to several hours), blowing my prints away or forcing me to move them before they are ready. This is something you have to accept beforehand if you decide to work with the natural elements though, and it can force you to come up with new ideas.

Do you enjoy the process itself or is it just a means to an end?

I love every step of the process, from mixing the chemistry and brushing it onto the paper to watching my prints develop and carefully tending to them. I love the excitement of looking at them the day after when they are fully oxidised. Otherwise, I would move on and use a different means to get my message across. The possibilities are endless.

How long have you been practicing this process?

I have been working with cameraless photographic processes since 2017 (silver gelatin photograms and chemigrams mainly) and began experimenting with the cyanotype process in the summer of 2021.

Do you have a mentor or a teacher that has helped your journey?

Over the years I have had wonderful teachers and mentors, especially in the beginning when I lived in London. Some of their lessons stay with me to this day, but in the past few years I have none watching over my photographic journey, let alone my adventures into alternative processes.

How do you work through times when nothing seems to work?

First of all, I step away from it all and do something completely unrelated to avoid wasting time, energy and materials. When I am ready to get back into the studio, if I do not know where to start, I resort to “collage therapy”. I make abstract collages with my reject prints, which has proven to be a great tool for overcoming creative blocks. While giving new life to old prints, I look at my work with fresh eyes and discover details that got initially lost in the overall picture, which sparkle new ideas and the desire to try again.

What part of image-making do you find the most rewarding?

The element of surprise. When you see something you have never seen or even imagined before.

What tools have you found essential in the making of your work?

One thing I love about this process is that I can make work with the barest of tools and materials – a brush, scales, a couple of plastic cups and spoons, two old wine bottles, some lightproof bags, cyanotype chemistry, water and paper.

Is there something in photography that you would like to try in the future?

For now I feel I have a lot to explore with the cyanotype process, and I am really enjoying its simplicity and the freedom it offers. I still have a stock of silver gelatin paper and film to play with at some point, but I have nothing in mind yet.

What’s on the horizon?

I am organizing a marine themed exhibition for this winter in a local deconsecrated church, while deciding on my next destination for the “Only One Water project”.

Thank you Cristina.

To learn more about the work of Cristina Saez please click on her name.