The contemporary photographer  traces the impacts on her work made by pioneering nineteenth-century photographer Anna Atkins.

When Anna Atkins used the cameraless printing method known as cyanotype in the 1840s to record all the specimens of algae known in the British Isles, she became one of the first people in history to use photography for scientific purposes. Nearly 170 years later, Meghann Riepenhoff continues to deploy cyanotype in large-scale works that she describes as a “collaboration” with the elements. It is her attempt to question how “humans negotiate our relationship with the environment around us, how we connect with the landscape, and how impermanence reveals itself through the land, the human condition, and images.”

Riepenhoff’s work is part of the Library’s new exhibition, Anna Atkins Refracted: Contemporary Works. She will speak about her artistic process, what Atkins’ legacy has meant to her as a photographer, and her debut monograph, Ecotone + Littoral Drift . Following her presentation, Riepenhoff will be joined in conversation by conversation by publisher/designer David Chickey and Library curator Joshua Chuang.

FIRST COME, FIRST SEATED
For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form one hour before the program.

PRESS 
Please send all press inquiries (photo, video, interviews, audio-recording, etc.) at least 24-hours before the day of the program to Sara Beth Joren at sarabethjoren@nypl.org. For all other inquiries, please contact publicprograms@nypl.org.

Watch a complete recording of this event here.