Anna Atkins

Anna Atkins was an amateur botanist especially interested in scientific illustration and taxonomy. Her self-published book, ‘Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions’ is a landmark in the histories both of photography and of publishing: the first photographic work by a woman, and the first book produced entirely by photographic means. Instantly recognizable today as the blueprint process, the cyanotypes lend themselves beautifully to illustrate objects found in the sea. (NYPL)