100 year old color photographs

<p>The photographer to the last Tsar of Russia, Prokudin-Gorskii, had a neat method to capture color film, about a 100 years ago.<br>

http://www.newsweek.com/id/214585</p>

<p>The photos aren't too bad at all either. Makes me wonder, anyone shooting with glass slides?</p>

<p>Enjoy!</p>

<p>Very nice and vibrant!<br>

~Jack</p>

<p>Wow. To see color photos of that quality from that time period is amazing!</p>

<p>Very impressive if they were done today! You have to hand it to those Russians. </p>

<p>The color and tone in many of those are just awsome. Thanks for posting, I truely enjoyed that!</p>

<p>Jason</p>

<p>thanks for the link.</p>

<p>One clarification to your post: the photographer was not using "color film." He was using three separate black and white plates, each exposed through a different color filter. </p>

<p>There are quite a few contemporary artists doing basically the same thing today, making tri-color gum prints. Of course, they are making prints, not slides. Three black and white negatives are created, either in camera or digitally. Each negative is printed with the color of gum complementary to the filter used to create the negative. For example, the red filter negative is printed with blue gum. When the three layers are printed, you get a full color image.</p>

<p>You can create the three negative easily in photoshop using the "channels" function. </p>

<p>Check out alternativephotography.com, "The 19th Century Gum Bichromate Process in 21st Century Concept and Techniques" for a quick and easy method to do tri-color gum prints. The article is by Christina Anderson.</p>

<p>I saw that a week or so, but what amazed me (besides the color) was the optical quality of the lenses. I don't recall seeing other images so sharp and contrasty from that period.</p>

<p>Nothing in those pictures tell us that they are really 100 years old.</p>

<p>A few more here from the LOC:<br>

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/</p>

<p> </p>

<blockquote>

<p>Nothing in those pictures tell us that they are really 100 years old.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Have you taken the time to follow links to the L.O.C.'s documentation before hinting these photos are a hoax?<br>

<a href="http://memory.loc.gov/pp/prokhtml/prokback.html">http://memory.loc.gov/pp/prokhtml/prokback.html</a><br>

<a href="http://memory.loc.gov/pp/prokhtml/prokcolor.html#composites">http://memory.loc.gov/pp/prokhtml/prokcolor.html#composites</a><br>

<a href="http://memory.loc.gov/pp/prokhtml/prokcompos.html">http://memory.loc.gov/pp/prokhtml/prokcompos.html</a></p>

 

<p>this proves it. the world wasn't all black and white a 100 years ago!</p>

<p>[<a href="../photodb/user?user_id=1713391">Michael Axel</a> ] "<em>I saw that a week or so, but what amazed me (besides the color) was the optical quality of the lenses. I don't recall seeing other images so sharp and contrasty from that period.</em> "<br /> I had exactly the same thought, but don't forget, we're talking about 1910, not the Civil War period, so good lenses were certainly becoming available. For example, the 60" astronomical telescope at Mount Wilson saw first light around 1909 (...Ok, it was a reflector, not a refractor, but there were plenty of refractive optics around)..</p>

<p>[<a href="../photodb/user?user_id=1665456">Harry Joseph</a> ] "<em>Nothing in those pictures tell us that they are really 100 years old.</em> "<br /> ...especially when viewed in light of Michael's comment. However, after reading the "methods" section on the second link, http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/making.html, I realized that each image received an enormous amount of post processing using modern day digital tools, so I'm a bit less surprised / doubtful about the IQ.</p>

<p>In addition, all of the previous public discussion of this photographer, together with the "credits" section, http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/credits.html, which seems to list half the staff at the Library of Congress also adds tremendous credibility so I don't think we have to be too suspicious.</p>

<p>I seem to remember seeing "The Emir of Bukhara" image ( http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/images/p87-8086.jpg ) done using an earlier, non-digital, much less sophisticated PP process, and the quality of that image was much more in keeping with what one would expect from that period.</p>

<p>Tom M<br /> Washington, DC</p>

<p>PS (in edit) - Bernard's post appeared when I was generating this one. Good points.</p>

<p>The IQ is incredible. Thanks for the link.</p>

<p>Wow, those are great quality pictures even for a modern film. Just great, I can't believe what my eyes are seeing.</p>

<p>Excellent link, thanks. We tend to think of the history of that era in black and white, and the color helps bring it to life. Also impressive is the apparent breadth and depth of cultural diversity in Russia.</p>

I would like to know what sort of camera he used. Obviously, when shooting people, he couldn't stop and change plates for the three exposures necessary without them moving. Using a camera with three lenses and three plates would result in a slight parallax difference. It must have been a camera with one lens and a beam splitter to expose the same lens beam on three plates much as early technicolor cameras exposed on three film strips simultaneously.

<p>yeah, I've seen that stuff before.....still amazing to see it again.</p>

<p>Thanks for the link--interesting views of a bygone world. As for color photography form that era, there was also the Autochrome process that became commercially available in 1905. There are surviving examples by Steichen, Steiglitz and many others.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I would like to know what sort of camera he used. Obviously, when shooting people, he couldn't stop and change plates for the three exposures necessary without them moving.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I wondered the same thing, especially after seeing the photo identified as a self portrait.</p>

<p>Several years ago I experimented with the technique Allen described, using an old copy of the now-defunct Corel Photo Paint to create transparencies that, when stacked and illuminated from behind, produced a very similar effect. Very retro colors, reminiscent of 1960s color snapshots. Unfortunately my inkjet transparencies from that era didn't last long under sunlight, but they were interesting for awhile when fastened to a window.</p>