Guinness World Record Cyanotype

Guinness World Record Breaking Cyanotype

In 2014, Emerson created a Guinness World Record-breaking cyanotype photograph commissioned by Hackney WickED Arts Festival. Performed in front of a live audience, the work measured an extraordinary 10.76 x 4.35 metres — a total of 46.81 square metres — and took just three minutes to expose under the sun. Assisted by Ben Rider, sewing assistant Jennifer Gratton, and a dedicated team of volunteers, the project became a remarkable collaborative event.

The final image featured three costumed models arranged among nets, branches, flowers, chandeliers, and shells, forming a surreal tableau of earth, sea and sky. Reviving the 19th-century cyanotype process, Emerson reimagined this historic blueprint technique as a contemporary performance — a celebration of art, light, and community on a monumental scale.