Anna Atkins: Photographer, Naturalist, Innovator

Learn about the life of Anna Atkins, the pioneering photographer who combined art and science to create the first photographically illustrated book

Step into the world of Anna Atkins (1799–1871), perhaps the world’s first female photographer and a pioneer of the medium. She lived an existence full of heartache and triumph, from her mother’s death when Atkins was an infant to her publication of multiple photographic books as an adult. After the passing of her mother, Atkins was raised primarily by her father and grandfather, who placed an emphasis on both her emotional and intellectual growth. As a result, she spent her life surrounded by some of the brightest minds of the day while they experimented in her family’s lab. Thanks to familial support and her own innate curiosity, Atkins felt empowered to pursue her passion for the natural world alongside several of the greatest inventors of Victorian England during the Industrial Revolution.

Despite societal gender norms of the era, which typically limited women to a life within the home, Atkins gained the respect of the scientific community with her ambitious multivolume album Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, now recognized as the world’s first photographically illustrated book. Her cyanotypes, in addition to their scientific accuracy, added a sense of artistic beauty to her publications, setting the stage for new uses of this already experimental technology. In an era replete with state-of-the-art inventions and innovative ideas, Atkins pushed photography forward in its earliest days with courage, creativity, and brilliance.