Cassie's blog post on Annsa Atkins

RCTC-Photo-I: Photographer Ranks 144 in Rating of 200 Jobs. Appr...: "Photographer Ranks 144 in Rating of 200 Jobs. Appreciate a Photographer!! Jim Pomerantz has a post on his blog about a recent ranking of 20..."

What intrigued me about Anna Atkins pictures the moment I looked at them, was their simplistic, yet bold beauty. Anna lived from 1799-1871, during her photography years, she was especially interested in scientific illustration and taxonomy. Her father was a scientist, and it was he who discovered the method of imagery of that Anna used. What he did was ad some changes to a technique known as photogenic drawing, which involved placing a flat object against a light-sensitized sheet of paper and exposing it to sunlight until the area around the object become darkened. Anna's father discovered a chemical method to halt this darkening. What he found was that colorless, water-soluble iron salts, form a compound known as Prussian Blue, when exposed to sunlight. The salt simply rinses away in plain water, leaving a blue 'negative' image,as the unexposed parts remain unaffected. At first she photographed specimens, like British Algae and types of Confera. She is not only the first of women to do photographic work, and but the first to have a book produced entirely by photographic means. Later on in life, Atkins explored the cyanotype medium to ad a more personal expression, creating assemblages of flowers and plants in elegant, and sometimes wacky designs. In some of her scientific plates one catches a glimpse of her ability to compose an arrangement in defiance of anything found in nature.

I not only admire Anna for her achievements as a women during an age when that was virtually impossible, but for how she took her own initiative. She took a photogenic means meant to be solely for scientific use, and started her own creations to produce pictures that i find boldly simplistic and even a bit serene.

I can not figure out how to get pictures on here. I am not much of a blogger and don't typically to much with the computer besides, school, email, and facebook. Sorry for the inconvenience. I am going to put a few links to some of her pictures.Picture of Algae. Dandelion Flowers.