About Anna Atkins:
Known for: published first book with photographs; sometimes claimed as the first woman to take a photograph (vs. Constance Talbot)
Dates: March 16, 1788 - June 9, 1871
Occupation: botanist, photographer
Also known as: Anna Children
Background, Family:
- Mother: Hester Anne Children, died 1800
- Father: John George Children, scientist (the Children's Python of Australia is named for him)
Education:
- educated in science by her father
Marriage:
- husband: John Pelly Atkins (married 1825)
More About Anna Atkins:
Anna Atkins was educated in science by her scientist father. She married in 1825 and took up an interest in plant collecting and botany. In 1839, she became a member of the Botanical Society in London.
Her father and husband were both friends of William Fox Talbot, who was inventing methods of taking photographs, including one known as the blue print process. Anna Atkins took her first picture about 1841; whether she or Talbot's wife Constance took the first photograph by a woman is debated.
Anna Atkins used her knowledge and skill in photography to publish a book on algae in Britain, using photographs to illustrate it. She published two more volumes of photographs of algae.
Anna Atkins went on to publish several other books illustrated with photographs, working with Anne Dixon, a friend and cousin of Jane Austen. She also published some other books including a memoir of her father and several books on fashion. The British Museum featured her plant collection in 1865. She died in 1871.
