autochrome

Early photographic colour transparency on glass made by the first fully practical means of producing colour photographs. The Lumière brothers in France announced a new colour process in 1904 and began marketing autochrome plates in 1907. These were prepared by randomly scattering a mixture of potato starch grains dyed in the three primary colours on to a glass plate, which was then coated with a standard black-and-white emulsion. When loaded into a camera and exposed, the mosaic of tiny colour filters effectively produced three colour separations on a single plate. After processing, a photographic image in rich natural colours could be seen. The process required fairly long exposures and the final images were dense and needed bright illumination for easy viewing. However, it was comparatively simple to practise and became the most popular of the early colour processes, finding favour with amateurs and professionals in Europe and America. Indeed, as early as July 1907 Stieglitz, Steichen, Frank Eugene and Heinrich Kühn met at Tutzing in Bavaria to try out the first available plates.

— John P. Ward

Bibliography

• Wood, J., The Art of the Autochrome: The Birth of Color Photography (1993)