Color pictures?

[Carlo Pozza]

Hey all,
I was just at the bookstore browsing through the WWI books and I happened upon a book with 30 or so color photos from the Great War! Apparently the process used to take these pictures (called Autochrome) is now forgotten, but it had something to do with potato starches dyed in different colors. Each one of these photos is amazingly sharp, and it's almost scary to see the grass being green and the sky being blue, instead of everything being black or white. As soon as I get home I'll try to put up some scans, but no guarantees. (sorry, digicam isn't the best )

My question to you is: Has anyone seen or perhaps even have any of these photos? They're simply stunning!

[Carlo Pozza]

Here's a pic I found on google just to whet your appetite!
Apparently they're French cuirassiers. This picture was taken shortly before WWI. Just look at the sky and trees in the background!

[atcase]

Hi Carlo,
not doubting you but this picture looks posed, probally by re-enactors.

Ashley

[Sal Williams]

I have heard there was some crazy color process Like the one carlo mentioned but I have never heard of any military pics using it.
Interested to see the others.

[Carlo Pozza]

Ashley, that's exactly what I thought, but the ones in this book are much too realistic to be posed. One shows a ruined apartment building in Verdun, and another shows a lone blockhouse among a forest of stumps.

[atcase]

Hi Carlos,
it is hard to describe, but try checking the colour in the pictures to see if they adhere to the different subjects boundry`s as they may have been coloured at a later date ?just an idea ???? If you can post a pic.

Ashley

[Carlo Pozza]

Here's another one I found on the 'net. This one is in the book.
The caption on the photo says "A French officer with his men of the 1st Algerian Spahis."

[Gilles C.]

another one, found on the net

[Matthew T S]

You guys might enjoy this link. http://www.mediatheque-patrimoine.cu...chromes.html#2

It's in French, but it's very easy to navigate.

[paddywhack]

there was a series on irish tv called ww1 in colour and it used the same tecnecs(??) as that! though not as sharp still amazing to see te trench the fleets at sea and the planes in the sky all in colour and black and white as normal!! very very cool series pity its over though!!oh it was british made by the way!

[Dave Danner]

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ad.php?t=43057

[Bob Lembke]

Early Color Process

I recall seeing a book of color photographs of the Russian royal family ca. 1905. They had hired a color photographer to document their family life in color. (Presumably they had a few bucks to splurge on the project.) And the term "Autochrome" (the term makes sense, a process to get colored pictures "automatically", i.e., without hand coloration.) comes back to me from this book.

The cuirassiers do look staged, but possibly it is simply a very good sharp picture combined with the startling quality of a period color photograph. The poorer-quality photos look more authentic, but it simply be the workings of our poor brains. Even WW II color photos are sort of startling.

Bob Lembke

[floydus]

WW1 Color Photo Website w/explanation

Hi,

While this is a late entry to this thread, I recently found this link and thought that it might be of interest...seems to explain some of the thread's questions.

http://www.poiemadesign.com/wwi/index.html

[Lucky Duck]

Color photography is older than most people believe. In 1861 Scottish physicist James Clerk-Maxwell demonstrated a color photography system involving three black and white photographs, each taken through a red, green, or blue filter. The photos were turned into lantern slides and projected in registration with the same color filters. This is the "color separation" method.

Ray

[Sergeant 08]

Field grey color photos ww1!

I love the colored old photos! Specially the German uniform photos! I have some nice pre 1914 color military photos, but I think it is harder to find field grey color photos of the ww1. Here is one, that I got today: