The cyanotype, invented in 1842 by Sir John Herschel, is a simple, inexpensive, camera-less process most often seen today in the form of architectural blueprints. Anna Atkins, inspired by Henry Fox Talbot, took up the process and had mastered it by 1843, making her the first woman photographer. As the daughter of a scientist and a botanist herself, her interest was in creating these photograms as a record of her collections but today they are recognized and much sought after for their aesthetic quality. Her eye for delicate composition created lasting works of beauty.

Atkins was also the first person to publish a book using photographic illustrations. She was in contact with both Talbot and Herschel, and it is possible she learned the cyanotype process from Herschel himself. A fine draftsman and painter, she turned to photography ostensibly to save herself the time of sketching minutely detailed botanical forms.