Chylocladia ovalis c. 1843 - 1853

"Chylocladia ovalis" is a cyanotype photograph by Anna Atkins, a pioneer of photography, from her book *Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions*. This book is one of the first publications to feature photographs as illustrations, and it was important for the advancement of botany as well as photographic processes. This image, made in the 1840s, shows the detail of an algae species, *Chylocladia ovalis*, captured in the cyanotype process. Atkins, a British scientist and artist, used the cyanotype process to create intricate and delicate prints of plants and other natural specimens, resulting in images of great beauty and scientific accuracy.