Google Doodle a tribute to first-ever photo book
Digital Reporter
Monday, March 16, 2015, 12:53 PM - If you did a Google search today (which you almost certainly have), you may have been drawn to the tranquil blue of today's Google Doodle.
It's a tribute to Anna Atkins, a 19th Century photographer who is believe to have produced the first-ever book of photographs. Monday was her 216th birthday.
She took algae and plants from the U.K. and beyond, pressed them against paper soaked in light-sensitive chemicals, and exposed them to sunlight, a process known as a cyanotype (it's the same method once used to produce blueprints).
She self-published Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions way back in 1843, becoming the first known photographer to publish a photo book. She published another volume of cyanotypes of British and foreign fern types the following decade.
Here are some of her best shots:
Adiantum Capillus Veneris
Ceylon fern
Confervae
Equisetum sylvaticum
Gleichenia immersa (Jamaica)
Leucojam Varium
Uvena Novae Villiae
SOURCES: Paul J. Getty Museum | Time | The Guardian
