Anna Atkins - Scolopendrium Vulgare - 1995.26 - Cleveland Museum of Art

Anna Atkins is best known for her pioneering work in photography, particularly in the use of cyanotype printing. She was born in 1799 in Kent, England, into a family of scientists and artists. Her father, John George Children, was a chemist and mineralogist, while her mother, Hester Anne Children, was a talented artist. Atkins was educated at home by her mother and was exposed to scientific ideas from an early age. She developed a keen interest in botany and began collecting and pressing plant specimens. In the 1820s she became interested in photography, which was then a new and experimental field. Atkins began experimenting with cyanotype printing, a process that uses a light-sensitive chemical to produce blue and white prints. She used this technique to create a series of photograms, or camera-less photographs, of plant specimens. These images were some of the earliest examples of photographic art and are now considered important works of botanical illustration. Atkins published her work in a book entitled 'Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions" in 1843. This book is considered the first book to be illustrated with photographic images and is a landmark in the history of photography. Atkins continued to experiment with photography throughout her life, producing images of ferns, feathers and other natural specimens. She also corresponded with other photographers and scientists, sharing her knowledge and techniques. Anna Atkins died in 1871, but her legacy lives on as one of the pioneers of photography and botanical illustration. Her work has inspired generations of photographers and artists and is still studied and appreciated today.