Anna Atkins (1799-1871), was a botanist and a photographer. According to some, she was the first female photographer. What is certain is that she was the first person to print a book of photographs.
Some of her photograms
The process she used to make her photograms was called cyanotype. Cyanotype uses uses ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide, two chemicals which react to Uv light. The picture is developed by immersing in water which produces the pigment Persian blue. The blue tint is why they are called cyanotypes.
Her work was for her Book, British Algae, the first book to have photos. The book took over a decade to make, due to the difficulty of the process and collecting the algae. However, as the images were hard to copy, only 17 copies of the book were made. However, the process became easier over time and became used to copy diagrams in engineering and architecture(hence the name 'blueprint').
In her pictures, the prints are tinted blue and the algae are laid flat to make a photogram. The pictures are