Conferva bombycina c. 1843 - 1853

"Conferva bombycina" is a cyanotype photograph by Anna Atkins, a pioneer of photography who was born in 1799 and died in 1871. This work is from a series of cyanotype prints compiled into a book entitled "Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions." This photo depicts a type of algae, captured in its natural form. Atkins used the cyanotype process to create these prints, which utilizes a solution of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide, a process that produces a characteristic blue-green image.