Speaking of old photos, one usually thinks in terms of black and white. Rarely do we think of vintage photos in color. But you will be surprised to know that color photographs are quite old too and made an appearance at the beginning of the century. Thus the history of color photos is a hundred years old. Take a look at the world’s oldest color photos taken 100 years ago.
If you wanted to shoot a color photo before 1907, you would have to color it instead with various dyes and pigments suited for photographic cards and paper. It was two French brothers Auguste and Louis Lumiere who invented the Auto chrome Lumiere. They used dyed grains of potato starch and light sensitive emulsion to produce remarkable photographs that did not require added colorization.
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The process of Autochrome Lumiere became extremely popular among photographers even though it was difficult to manufacture and also somewhat expensive. However, the process was widely preferred among amateur photographers.
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The Autochrome Lumiere technique was even used to publish one of the world's first books of color photography. As you can see in the photograph, the colors are extremely vintage but all this was soon to change with a new entrant into the world of photography, Kodachrome film!
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Kodak soon took things to an entirely new level with the introduction of their Kodachrome film in 1935. This turned out a lighter and convenient alternative to the Autochrome Lumiere process. This made Autochrome Lumiere obsolete even though it remained popular in France till 1950.
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Kodachrome too did not last long in the evolution of color photography ultimately giving way to digital photography. Kodachrome was stopped by Kodak in 2009. Digital photography is by far the most popular way to take photographs.
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Regardless of digital photography or kodachrome, the evolution and progress of color photography would not have been possible had it not been for the invention of the two brothers Auguste and Louis Lumiere hailed as the pioneers of color photography.
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The largest collection of Autochrome photographs was documented between 1909 and 1931 and numbered 72,000 photgraphs. The collection was created by banker Albert Kahn and is housed in the Albert Kahn Museum in Paris.
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Because of the novelty factor and richness in photographic elements, several photographic groups have been trying their best to resurrect the Autochrome process. Groups in France have been working with original Lumiere machinery but with little success. As the oldest color photos, it is doubtful such elements can be recreated to capture the same charm.
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Although easy to use, it was the expense required to shoot and process in Autochrome that was its biggest disadvantage. Several photographers of the period could ill afford such extravagant means to photography and preferred the traditional hand held shooting in black and white.
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The 2006 film “The Illusionist was shot with an effort to recreate the Autochrome look but based the process on published reproductions rather than the actual Autochrome plates. Photographer Fredric Mocellin was recently successful in recreating the Autochrome process. These are some of the oldest color photos showing how photography has certainly evolved and come a long way.
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