Anna Atkins
1799–1871 · United Kingdom
Botany in blue.
Explore 12 works ↓
Anna Atkins · 1851–54
The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Purchase, Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2004
CC0 — The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Reuse conditions · Artwork record
The story
Botanist and photographer Anna Atkins used cyanotype to record the forms of algae. Specimens placed on sensitised paper leave pale silhouettes against a blue background. Her book Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions combines scientific classification with visual invention. These pages show that a photograph can be made without a camera: the object itself shapes the image through contact, at the meeting point of the herbarium and the photobook.
Understanding the work
Follow the outlines, transparencies and changes of scale. The placement of the specimen, the blank spaces and the writing give each page a rhythm as well as a documentary purpose.
Key works and series
Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions.
Sources & further exploration
A journey through images.
12 worksClick an image to enlarge it. Captions, collections and reuse conditions appear below each work. Captions describe the photographs; the source records retain catalogue titles and provide context.
Anna Atkins · 1851–54
The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Purchase, Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2004
CC0 — The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Reuse conditions · Artwork record
Anna Atkins · 1843
Public domain · Artwork record
Anna Atkins
Public domain · Artwork record
Anna Atkins
Public domain · Artwork record
Anna Atkins · between 1843 and 1853
Public domain · Artwork record
Anna Atkins · ca. 1853
The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005
CC0 — The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Reuse conditions · Artwork record
Anna Atkins · ca. 1853
The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005
CC0 — The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Reuse conditions · Artwork record
Anna Atkins · ca. 1853
The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005
CC0 — The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Reuse conditions · Artwork record
Anna Atkins · ca. 1853
The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005
CC0 — The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Reuse conditions · Artwork record
Anna Atkins · ca. 1853
The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005
CC0 — The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Reuse conditions · Artwork record
Anna Atkins · ca. 1853
The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005
CC0 — The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Reuse conditions · Artwork record
Anna Atkins · ca. 1853
The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005
CC0 — The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Reuse conditions · Artwork record
Works in collections.
3 recordsPhotographs to explore on museum and library websites, with titles, dates and processes. Each link opens the collection record and its image where one is available.
