Today, 16 March, would have been the birthday of one of the greats – botanist and artist Anna Atkins (1799 – 1871). Atkins is believed to be the first woman to ever create a photographic book, and possibly the first woman to ever take a photograph. Her images are a type of photogram using what is known as the cyanotype method. To honour her on her birthday here is a selection of her plants held by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and available to download and reuse at high resolution under their Open Content Programme. Her purpose was botanical, to document species and morphology, yet her arrangements of the plants were so beautiful and striking, that their artistic appeal remains timeless.
Iris Sibirica, 1854
Cypripedium, 1854
Ceylon., 1853
Adiantum Capillus Veneris., 1853
Gleichenia immersa (Jamaica)., 1853
Leucojam Varium, 1854
Equisetum sylvaticum, 1853, Cyanotype
Google Doodle 16/03/2015
