Ceramium ciliatum 1851 - 1855

Editor: This is "Ceramium ciliatum," a cyanotype by Anna Atkins, dating from around 1851 to 1855. It's currently held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I find the ethereal quality of the blue and the delicate plant form to be incredibly striking. What do you see in this piece? Curator: It's more than just striking, isn't it? This image sings of science meeting art, a little like gazing at a dream botanist's notebook. Can you imagine Anna Atkins carefully arranging that seaweed on the treated paper? She wasn’t just making art; she was documenting, classifying, participating in this huge Victorian wave of scientific discovery, but with a truly singular aesthetic vision, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Absolutely. I guess I hadn’t fully considered the scientific context. I was drawn to the aesthetics, that intense blue... It’s mesmerizing! Was cyanotype photography common then? Curator: Common? Perhaps among those botanically-minded folks! But Anna, bless her inquisitive spirit, was among the pioneers of the technique. It must have felt like conjuring up life from light, watching these photograms develop! It's a dance between control – the arrangement of the specimen – and chance, the alchemical reaction of light and chemicals. And I imagine each one is an imprint not only of the plant, but of a summer afternoon, a breeze perhaps, a bit of contemplative silence… Editor: I love that image - the silence, a contemplative act. Looking at it that way brings another dimension to the piece, it brings it alive, paradoxically! I am beginning to think of each print almost as a portrait of a moment, the confluence of science and place. Thank you for the insight! Curator: Exactly! And isn’t it wonderful how art can hold so much, teach us to see, to feel, and yes, perhaps, even whisper a bit of magic, a memory of summer days…