Elaionema villosum
1843-1853
Anna Atkins was a true pioneer of photography, creating this delicate blue print decades before color photography even existed. She used the cyanotype process, essentially placing the plant specimen directly onto light-sensitive paper and letting the sun bake the image. The result is a ghostly white silhouette of Elaionema villosum floating against a deep Prussian blue background, looking almost like a piece of frozen lace. This piece comes from her groundbreaking book 'Photographs of British Algae,' which holds the incredible title of being the very first book ever illustrated with photographic images.
- Technique
- Cyanotype
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