Study of Leaves
1877
Medium
Gum bichromate photogram
Dimensions
Image: 28.9 × 22.9 cm (11 7/16 × 9 1/16 in.); Album page: 40.7 × 34.3 cm (16 1/16 × 13 9/16 in.)
Classification
photograph
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
197570
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
The daughter of a wealthy Philadelphia brewer, Amelia Bergner was active in musical and cultural circles. It is likely that her interest in art, rather than an urge to classify the region's flora, prompted her to produce the botanical album from which this print is drawn. Bergner placed fern fronds and leaves directly on paper coated with light-sensitive chemicals and pigments, which she then exposed to the sun. The practice of recording botanical specimens photographically dates to the earliest...