A colourful blast from the past: Autochrome and the Lumiere brothers

Modesty, 1912

Can you believe that this picture was taken almost 100 years ago?

Really early colour photography is a topic that i came across a while ago and was completely blown away by, yet for some reason haven't managed to get round to doing a post about it. Whilst browsing Nowness, a site which "showcases the best of fashion, art, gastronomy, entertainment, and travel in a highly creative and technologically advanced approach", i read a little section called 'The past is bright' which introduced me to the colour photography that existed before i even knew it was possible:

The turn of the 19th century often seems a rather drab period in retrospect, not least because we remember it primarily through grainy black & white images of somber-looking figures. However, though color photography was not really popularized until the invention of Kodachrome film in 1936, color processes have been around since the 1860s. One of these early techniques was Autochrome, patented in 1905 by the Lumiere Brothers (who, incidentally, opened the world’s first public cinema today in 1895). Adopted by several photographers over the years, Autochrome offers an vivid and surreal window on the past, its slightly too-rich colors imbuing each scene with a sense of fantasy.

A read a little into the Lumiere brothers. Aswell as being pioneers of colour photography, they were amongst the earliest film makers:

The brothers stated that "the cinema is an invention without any future" and declined to sell their camera to other filmmakers such as Georges Méliès. Consequently, their role in the history of film was exceedingly brief. They turned their attentions to colour photography and in 1903 they patented a colour photography process, the "Autochrome Lumière", launched on the market in 1907. Throughout much of the 20th century, the Lumière company was a major producer of photographic products in Europe, but the brand name, Lumière, disappeared from the marketplace following its merger with Ilford.

This clip of Loie Fuller doing her 'serpentine dance' was filmed in 1896 with a Lumiere video camera. Fuller herself was considered a pioneer due to her use of coloured stage lights to create the illusion that she was changing colour:

Here's a selection of other autochrome pictures, they're really amazing:

c.1910 taken from here

(I don't know the date of this one)

1910

Two girls picking flowers, 1912

'Miss Mary and Lotte at the hill Crest', 1910

Zouaves attack, 1916

Couple, 1910

Rowboats, Southern France

Senegalese and other French African colony soldiers, 1903

Nero playing the harp, Alfonse Van Besten c.1912

3rd Zouave Regiment doing their laundry,  1914

All photographs, unless specified otherwise, have been taken from here and here. I would really recommended taking a look at the full collections as they're really interesting.

Lots of love

Lucy

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