In 1842, astronomer Sir John Herschel invented the cyanotypes as a way to copy his extensive notes. As it grew in popularity, many artiest began working with the medium and pushing the boundaries of what could be created with it.

     Anna Atkins, famous botanist, used the process to make images of different foliage that she studied. It was a form of scientific botanical illustrations made by placing a plant on the surface of a sensitized paper and letting UV rays turn the exposed paper a royal blue while the nearly exact imprint remains white.  An example of her work shown on the left is Cystoseira granulata, a species of brown algae. If you'd like to see more of her work, check out the The Metropolitan Museum website as they have many of her prints digitized. 

For my thesis, I wanted to pay homage to the most famous cyanotype artist, Anna Atkins. I will be working with the Toronto Botanical Gardens on June 1st, 2025 to educate and show demonstrations of how cyanotypes are made and how they relate to botany. The Botanical Gardens have agreed to supply me with some different plant species to make prints of for my thesis project and for the education event.