![]() ![]() ![]() The result was a lavishly detailed outline image. To create a cyanotype, Atkins placed the plants on to the suitably prepared paper set into a copy frame, which she then covered with a glass plate so as to guarantee the closest possible contact with the support surface. Instead, she immersed it in chemical solutions. Since the backs of many of Atkins’ images are pale blue in colour, we can assume that she did not always sensitize the paper with a brush or sponge. At harvest time, the algae were immediately rinsed in water, then taken home where she used dissecting forceps and camelhair brushes to remove extraneous matter, before finally pressing and drying them. ![]() ![]() Below is an extract from an accompanying essay by Peter Walther, detailing Atkins’s development of the book.Īnna Atkins herself had collected and dried most of the plants included in British Algae. Later this month, Taschen is publishing a facsimile of British Algae alongside Atkins’s other book, Cyanotypes of British and Foreign Ferns (1853). The English botanist (1799-1871) produced her collection using the cyanotype technique, which she became aware of through her father’s friendship with its inventor, John Herschel. British Algae (1843-53) by Anna Atkins is thought to be the first book to be illustrated using photographic images. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |