William Henry Fox Talbot, one of the inventors of photography, predicted that the new medium would make “every man his own printer and publisher.” In actuality, it was a woman, Anna Atkins, whom photography first enabled to act as her own printer of illustrated books. Atkins turned to photography to illustrate her studies of botanical specimens. These cyanotypes were produced by placing each plant directly on light-sensitive paper: areas exposed to light were recorded in cerulean blue, precisely delineating the contours of Atkins’s subjects.
2019
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Anna Atkins
British, 1799–1871 3 works onlineIn October 1843, the botanist and photographer Anna Atkins (1799–1871) wrote a letter to a friend.” Atkins proceeded to inquire whether a mutual acquaintance, also interested in aquatic plants, would care to receive a copy of her recently completed book, Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions .
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Cameraless photography
Cameraless photographs are created by manipulating light, radiation, and/or chemicals to leave an impression on photo-sensitive paper. Examples include techniques such as cyanotypes (commonly known as blueprints), radiographs (commonly known as X-rays), chemigrams, and photograms.
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