ANNA ATKINS

The biography of a woman who shaped early photography while facing Victorian gender norms.

Anna Atkins (1799-1871) was an English botanist, illustrator, and photographer, who was raised by her scientist father, John George Children, and her paternal grandfather following her mother’s death. Atkins had an education unusual for girls of the time that included Latin and the sciences. She later married John Pelly Atkins, who came from a wealthy family of landowners who profited from being enslavers in Jamaica. Her studies provided a foundation for her experiments with cyanotypes, “an early photographic process that produced a blue-and-white print.” Nineteenth-century gender restrictions encouraged women to enjoy “polite” activities such as botany; seaweed-collecting was a “full-blown mania” among women of the era. Keller demonstrates how these influences contributed to Atkins’ groundbreaking 1843 publication, Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, the first book illustrated with photographs. The narrative’s meticulous research pulls from the subject’s personal and professional writing, and the short sections keep the book light and accessible. Eye-catching and informative photographs, illustrations, and cyanotypes—including many examples of Atkins’ own work—add to the overall appeal. The judicious inclusion of background information ensures that readers will have a thorough understanding of the historical and cultural milieu of the time. Keller also highlights the contributions of other notable women of the time, some well-known, others less celebrated, across a range of fields.

An accessible and visually enticing work that blends science, technology, and social history.