PHOTOGRAPHY CATALOGUE OF THE YEAR
Book signings
Sun Gardens: Cyanotypes by Anna Atkins
Larry J. Shaaf
Prestel Publishing
New York, 2018
Sun Gardens, published in conjunction with an exhibition at the New York Public Library, incorporates new, in-depth research contextualizing the work of Anna Atkins and her cyanotype process. It pays thorough homage to the woman who made the first photographically illustrated book. Juror Amanda Maddox anticipates that “this catalogue will serve as an incredible resource for anyone interested in Anna Atkins, cyanotypes, and the early history of photobook making.” The book is an updated and expanded edition of an earlier edition published in 1985 and long out of print; it includes new scholarship by the original author, Larry J. Schaaf, an expert and dedicated photo-historian. The look and feel of the catalogue have been carefully updated as well. “The reproductions are second to none; it’s a beautiful, carefully produced book,” says Maddox. “The author’s care echoes Atkins’s own attention to detail when she made her cyanotypes, down to her precise, handwritten captions. Thanks to this book, you can see the minutia that mattered to Atkins.”