Justine Joseph (1971-) - Now in tubs solarised, authentic cyanotype

Now in Tubs Floral Cyanotype – Sunlit Serendipity

From a photograph by my father, Michael Joseph

A unique cyanotype where the quiet zen of the woman in the bath is transformed by sunlight, wild botanicals and the beautiful unpredictability of chemistry.

Original photograph: Michael Joseph, Now in Tubs advertising campaign, 1980s
Cyanotype created: June 2026, Dordogne, France
Artist: Justine Joseph
Process: Handmade cyanotype incorporating direct botanical photograms
Edition: Unique work – one only

Some photographs are carefully planned.

Cyanotypes, however, always retain an element of beautiful uncertainty.

Created entirely by hand from one of Michael Joseph's original negatives, this piece was exposed beneath the summer sun of the Dordogne, where light, chemistry and chance became equal partners in its creation. Every passing cloud, every subtle fluctuation in ultraviolet intensity, every degree of warmth, every minute of exposure and every variation during washing influenced the final image. Even when using the same negative, the same paper and the same sensitising solution, the result can never be repeated.

That delightful unpredictability is precisely what makes cyanotypes so magical.

The original photograph was created for Nivea's celebrated Now in Tubs advertising campaign during the 1980s. Michael Joseph loved to joke that the elegant pose had little to do with artistic symbolism and everything to do with discreetly concealing what he affectionately described as the model's "knobbly knees" - a wonderfully human anecdote that perfectly reflected both his humour and his approach to photography.

In this reinterpretation, however, the image takes on an entirely different atmosphere.

The soft Prussian blues and luminous whites are not applied with ink but born from a nineteenth-century reaction between iron salts, sunlight and water. It is a process that rewards patience while resisting absolute control. Sometimes the chemistry produces velvety gradients, sometimes dramatic contrasts. Tiny blooms, crystalline textures, subtle mottling and unexpected halos emerge as the print develops. These are not imperfections but fingerprints of the process itself—moments when nature quietly signs the work.

Each cyanotype becomes a conversation between artist, archive, weather and chemistry.

Created by Michael Joseph's daughter from one of his original negatives, this work forms part of an ongoing exploration into how historic photographs can be reborn through alternative photographic processes. Rather than simply reproducing the original image, each cyanotype allows it to evolve into something entirely new, where memory, sunlight and serendipity merge into a single, unrepeatable object.

The result is at once vintage and contemporary, photographic, carefully guided yet gloriously unpredictable.

A unique work celebrating the enduring life of an image - and the extraordinary alchemy that occurs whenever sunlight meets chemistry.

Why this piece?

• Unique handmade cyanotype created in the Dordogne in June 2026
• Produced from an original Michael Joseph negative
• Original image from the iconic Now in Tubs advertising campaign
• Exposed entirely using natural summer sunlight
• Every print is shaped by changing weather, UV intensity and the wonderfully unpredictable nature of cyanotype chemistry
• Prussian pastel blue tones characteristic of the traditional cyanotype process
• One-of-a-kind artwork - impossible to reproduce exactly
• Combines archival photography and nineteenth-century photographic chemistry
• A meeting of photographic history and joyful unpredictability

A celebrated photograph reborn through sunlight and chemistry - where every ray of sunshine and every subtle twist of chemistry writes a story that can never be told in quite the same way again.

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