The first commercial colour photographic process, 'AUTOCHROME' became a century of age in 2007 and aroused renewed attention. Methods of colour separating an image into three records that could be later put together and displayed in full colour had been known since the earliest years, but these methods were laborious and impractical for everyday photography. A method was needed to separate the spectrum into its components on a single plate. The Lumiere brothers, early photo material manufacturers, attacked the problem systematically and patented their work in 1903. After eliminating all other dye carriers, they settled on potato starch particles as being of the correct specification to hold an effective level of dye, and the starch particles could then act as microscopically small light filters. Once dyed in three colours, orange, green and violet, mixed and then thinly coated with one of the earliest panchromatic emulsions, for the first time a single plate could record the entire colour spectrum.
For the time this was seriously 'pushing the envelope' - the plates were an expensive material to manufacture, and it was a difficult process for the photographer to operate. However it represented a technological dead end, and although more sophisticated screen plate systems were devised, it was only when Kodak emerged with chromogenic processes that modern colour photography came into being. But the exquisite 'pointellist' quality of Autochrome was unique, and although it can easily be mimicked now, Autochrome should be appreciated as a creation of it's time. The many thousand full colour images made in the early 20'th century will always fascinate, and as well as being historical documents demonstrate what photographers were capable off when working with the most unwieldy of processes. These are some links to the most interesting sites featuring Autochrome, concentrating on those featuring images.
In 2007 the BBC ran a series on the Albert Kahn collection, which was essential viewing, get the DVD's
bbc.co.uk - albert-kahn
Early colour WW1 images from an Australian collection
awm.gov.au/captured/colour/autochrome
Wonderful collection of WW1 images, ignore the comments at the bottom of the page
network54.com
The Lumiere site, with the history of the process
institut-lumiere
More information on Albert Kahn & his mission to record the planet
wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Kahn
le site francais de la photographie haute resolution
galerie-photo.com
Early Visual Media - site dedicated to all forms of early media, links through to some amazing Autochrome collections
Early Visual Media
Kansas City Library Autochrome Collections
kclibrary.org/localhistory/collections
'The Dawn of Colour' - material at the National Museum of Photography
nationalmediamuseum.org.uk
Library of Congress, inc. information on deterioration & restoration of Autochromes
cweb2.loc.gov/pp/gendetau
War documentary site, but with large collection of WW1 Autochromes
worldwaronecolorphotos
