Ode to Anna

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In 1842, British scientist John Herschel discovered the cyanotype process — an early photographic technique that produces images in a distinctive cyan blue. But it was Anna Atkins who first applied the process to create images. With a scientific mind and an artistic sensibility, she used cyanotypes to document botanical specimens, earning her place in history as the first female photographer.

Yet it is Herschel who is most often credited in history books as the “discoverer,” while Atkins — the actual maker and innovator — received far less recognition for much of history. Her work stands not only as a scientific archive, but as a poetic encounter between photography and the natural world.

This series is a tribute to Anna Atkins — and to the many women whose contributions have long gone underacknowledged. Through cyanotype, with its deep blues and direct relationship to light and material, Dai explores the connection between the feminine and the natural. By combining historical and contemporary techniques, he bridges past and present. Each image is a quiet gesture of gratitude: to the woman, to the landscape, to a history that deserves to be rewritten.

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