Who was the first successful color photography?

Answer 1

The first permanent photographically made color picture was demonstrated in 1861 by Clerk J. Maxwell a Scottish physicist. He directed a photographer friend, Thomas Sutton to take three black & white pictures of a colorful fabric known as a Tartan Ribbon. The three pictures were taken one after the other. One was taken using as strong red transparent glass (filter) over the lens. The second picture was taken using a green filter, the third with a blue filters. Red, green, and blue are the three primary colors used in Photography.

The three images were then projected superimposed on a single screen using three projectors. Each projector was fitted with the same filter used when the picture was taken. The resulting projection showed the world that color photography was possible. This is called the additive method because three primary colors are simultaneously projected. This method is used today in our TV's and computer display.

While the picture of the Tartan Ribbon was impressive, Louis Ducos Du Hauron made a nearly perfect color picture in 1877. He made a print on paper by superimposing the complements of the three primarily colors. These are cyan a blue-green, magenta a red-blue and yellow. These three colors are known as the subtractive primaries. This method is known as the subtractive method. Today photographic prints are paper are made using this method.