Sun Prints (Hardcover, North American ed.)

Preface by Paul McCartney

Introduction by Robert Lassam

This unusual book grew out of Linda McCartney's fascination with nineteenth-century photographic printing processes and in particular with the technique of sun printing developed by W.H. Fox Talbot, founder of the modern photographic process. Sun printing relies on natural sunlight to produce an image on paper brushed with a mixture of minerals. For several years, Linda experimented with this method, and the results are prints of great richness in the characteristic Vandyck brown and bright cyan produced by the different chemicals used.

Nineteenth-century sun prints had a beautiful but static quality caused by the long exposure time needed to take a photograph. Linda's pictures, by contrast, combine the spontaneity of photographs taken using modern equipment with the subtlety of the old printing methods, producing a distinctive collection of images.

A foreword by Linda McCartney recounts some of her experiences with sun printing, and Robert Lassam's introduction describes the history of the technique, explaining for the modern photographer how these effects are achieved. A preface by Paul McCartney provides personal insight into Linda's work in photography.