Marie Smith / Extraction
In 2022, Marie worked as an artist-in-residence at the Horniman Museum and Gardens, home to Anna Atkins’ Study of British Algae, a groundbreaking work of cyanotype photography from 1848. While Atkins is celebrated as the first female photographer to publish a book of photographic illustrations, her family’s ties to Jamaica’s colonial history reveal a more complex legacy. Atkins’ husband, John Pelly Atkins, was the son of a plantation owner whose wealth—bolstered by compensation for enslaved individuals after abolition—helped fund her artistic practice.
As an artist of Jamaican heritage, Marie delves into this layered history in Extraction: In Conversation with Anna Atkins. This series of 30 bleached cyanotypes, inspired by Atkins’ methods, incorporates Marie’s reflections from the Horniman archives. The bleaching process becomes a means of transformation, offering commentary on Atkins’ legacy while reimagining the cyanotype tradition.
Edition of 100
218mm x 270mm
48 pages
Section sewn
Foil blocked Hardback with debossed image
Published by Folium, 2025
In 2022, Marie worked as an artist-in-residence at the Horniman Museum and Gardens, home to Anna Atkins’ Study of British Algae, a groundbreaking work of cyanotype photography from 1848. While Atkins is celebrated as the first female photographer to publish a book of photographic illustrations, her family’s ties to Jamaica’s colonial history reveal a more complex legacy. Atkins’ husband, John Pelly Atkins, was the son of a plantation owner whose wealth—bolstered by compensation for enslaved individuals after abolition—helped fund her artistic practice.
As an artist of Jamaican heritage, Marie delves into this layered history in Extraction: In Conversation with Anna Atkins. This series of 30 bleached cyanotypes, inspired by Atkins’ methods, incorporates Marie’s reflections from the Horniman archives. The bleaching process becomes a means of transformation, offering commentary on Atkins’ legacy while reimagining the cyanotype tradition.
Edition of 100
218mm x 270mm
48 pages
Section sewn
Foil blocked Hardback with debossed image
Published by Folium, 2025
In 2022, Marie worked as an artist-in-residence at the Horniman Museum and Gardens, home to Anna Atkins’ Study of British Algae, a groundbreaking work of cyanotype photography from 1848. While Atkins is celebrated as the first female photographer to publish a book of photographic illustrations, her family’s ties to Jamaica’s colonial history reveal a more complex legacy. Atkins’ husband, John Pelly Atkins, was the son of a plantation owner whose wealth—bolstered by compensation for enslaved individuals after abolition—helped fund her artistic practice.
As an artist of Jamaican heritage, Marie delves into this layered history in Extraction: In Conversation with Anna Atkins. This series of 30 bleached cyanotypes, inspired by Atkins’ methods, incorporates Marie’s reflections from the Horniman archives. The bleaching process becomes a means of transformation, offering commentary on Atkins’ legacy while reimagining the cyanotype tradition.
Edition of 100
218mm x 270mm
48 pages
Section sewn
Foil blocked Hardback with debossed image
Published by Folium, 2025