Anna Atkins was an english botanist. She is commonly credited to be the first person to publish an illustrated book, having photographic images. Born in Tunbridge, England, in 1799, she did not get to grow up with a mother’s care as her mother passed away a year later. It has been said that this was due to the after effects of childbirth. Her father, being a chemist, mineralogist and zoologist, educated her more in the sciences than a young woman would have at her time. She married John Pelly Atkins, they had no children. Atkins had a large interest in botany, collecting dry plants in her spare time
Her husband and father were both friends with Henry Fox Talbot, who taught her some of his inventions related to photography such as a technique coined “photogenic drawing”. This technique involves an object that is placed on light sensitive paper, which is then exposed to the sun, facilitating drawing the image out. She was also taught calotypes, which involves using paper that is coated with silver iodide.
Atkins would then use her skills in photography along with her interest in botany to produce illustrations in books.
A friend of hers, Sir John Herschel, invented cyanotype, commonly known as blueprints. Within a year, she was able to draw out seaweed using this method by placing it directly onto the cyanotype paper. With this technique, she published her first book Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions. This is the first book to be considered to have illustrations of photographic images.
Atkins is also arguably the first female photographer, as she had known access to a camera by 1841. Although, it is up for debate whether she should be credited with that title or Constance Fox Talbot. Neither of them have salvaged camera based photographs, as such the debate may forever stay unsolved.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 