Callithamnion plumula c. 1843 - 1853

Anna Atkins made this cyanotype of Callithamnion plumula in England in the mid-19th century. This was a time when the public role of art was being renegotiated due to the emergence of photography. Atkins was part of a circle of botanists and photographers who were interested in using photography to document the natural world, a project made possible by the institutionalization of scientific societies and museums. Consider that she made the image using a process that bypassed the artistic skill traditionally associated with image-making. This speaks to the period's shifting understanding of what constitutes art, and who can be an artist. The image is, thus, a product of its time, reflecting both the scientific and artistic currents of Victorian England. Understanding it requires archival research into the social and institutional contexts in which it was made and the ways in which gender, science, and art intersected during this period.