Anna Atkins (1799-1871) was an English botanist and photographer. She is often considered the first person to publish a book illustrated with photographic images and some sources say that she was the first woman to create a photograph.
Her 19th century cyanotypes used light exposure and a simple chemical process to create impressively detailed blueprints of botanical specimens.
Atkins’ work can relate to my specialist practice (composite photography) as, in some of her cyanotypes, she has made prints of more than one species of plant or algae.
Iker, A. (2020). Anna Atkins. [online] The Museum of Modern Art. Available at: https://www.moma.org/artists/231.