Anna Atkins (English, 1799-1871)

"Lycopodium (Ceylon)," circa 1851-1854

Cyanotype photogram

35.1 x 25.0 cm

After Anna Atkins, one of the earliest women photographers, produced British Algae, the first published book printed and illustrated with photography, she turned her love of the photogram toward the production of images for sheer visual pleasure. Her cyanotypes of the 1850s are striking precursors of the expressive photography of twentieth-century and contemporary artists. Fellow botanists frequently gave Atkins specimens from their travels.

Anna Atkins (English, 1799-1871)

"Lygodion-Volubile," circa 1851-1854

Cyanotype photogram

34.4 x 24.6 cm

Anna Atkins (English, 1799-1871)

"Gleichenia flabellata (Australia)," 1851-1854

Cyanotype

34.6 x 24.8 cm