Three ghostly white plants float suspended atop the Prussian-blue background of a 27 x 21 cm print (fig. 1). Their leafy fronds are so exquisitely fine that in some places the blue bleeds through their tissues to expose delicate quiltings of veins and willowy inflorescences. Opaque white patches mottle each of the plants to signal where multiple layers of plant flesh overlap. The interplay of shapes, color, and textures in the image captures an atmospheric effect of alien beauty, nearly incomprehensible. That is, until the small label at the bottom of the print in meticulous penmanship informs us that we are looking atDelessaria sanguinea,a type of red algae commonly known as “Sea Beech.” This is one in the thousand-plus body of images that comprises Anna Atkins'sPhotographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions. Dedicated to documenting England's native seaweed, ferns, and flowering plants, Atkins's photographic botanical project ranged about a decade (October 1843–53) and resulted in multiple editions she would give to friends and cultural institutions. While she primarily helmed the project herself, she occasionally included her father, zoologist and photography enthusiast John Children. For the last couple albums, she enlisted as a co-creator her “like a sister” Anne Dixon, who collected, arranged, and developed the images alongside Atkins.

中文翻译：

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“植物本身的印象”：用安娜·阿特金斯的英国藻类照片将生态档案实践物化

三棵幽灵般的白色植物漂浮在 27 x 21 厘米的普鲁士蓝色背景上（图 1）。它们多叶的叶子非常精致，以至于在某些地方，蓝色通过它们的组织渗出，露出精致的静脉绗缝和柳条花序。不透明的白色斑块使每株植物斑驳，以表明多层植物肉重叠的位置。图像中形状、颜色和纹理的相互作用捕捉到了外星美的大气效果，几乎无法理解。也就是说，直到印刷品底部的小标签以一丝不苟的字迹告诉我们，我们正在看Delessaria sanguinea,一种俗称“海山毛榉”的红藻。这是包含安娜·阿特金斯 (Anna Atkins) 的数千幅图像中的一幅英国藻类的照片：蓝型印象. 致力于记录英格兰本土的海藻、蕨类植物和开花植物，阿特金斯的摄影植物项目持续了大约十年（1843 年 10 月至 53 年），并产生了多个版本，她将送给朋友和文化机构。虽然她主要自己负责这个项目，但她偶尔也会邀请她的父亲、动物学家和摄影爱好者约翰·儿童。在最后几张专辑中，她将“像姐姐一样”的 Anne Dixon 作为共同创作者，她与 Atkins 一起收集、整理和开发了这些图像。