top of page
Search

The path to color photography and film – Part 2

Updated: Feb 3

Having already looked at the beginnings of photography and the first photographic processes, this blog post is dedicated to the next important developments: color photography and the transition to film. How did it become possible to capture the world not only in shades of gray, but also in vivid colors? What technical achievements paved the way to this breakthrough? We also look at how photography finally made the leap to moving images, creating a completely new medium.


Titelbild Meilensteine der Fotografiegeschichte mit dem Text "Die frühen Verfahren der Fotografie"

©stefanocarocci, Man taking photo with old camera, adobestock



The first color photography


In 1861, physicist James Clerk Maxwell conducted an experiment that is an important milestone in the development of color photography. The aim of the experiment was to prove his theory of additive color mixing. This states that all colors of the spectrum can be created with the help of light by the targeted combination of the three primary colors red, green and blue.



 © nickolae, James Clerk Maxwell, adobesock


The experiment: A Scottish tartan ribbon in focus

For his demonstration, Maxwell chose a Scottish tartan ribbon as a motif. Photographer Thomas Sutton implemented Maxwell's idea by photographing the tape three times – once through a red, once through a green and once through a blue colour filter. These black-and-white photographs, which recorded the light intensity of the respective colour channels, were then superimposed on top of each other with the appropriate colour filters and photographed. This is how the world's first color photo was taken.


The importance for photography

With his demonstration of additive color mixing, Maxwell laid the theoretical foundation for the later emergence of color photography. Although the practical application of his findings was not yet technically possible in his time, his work remains a decisive milestone and inspired later developments, such as that of Luis Ducos du Hauron.



Louis Ducos du Hauron

"the father of color photography"


Louis Ducos du Hauron, pianist and passionate optician, is considered one of the most important pioneers of colour photography. His work on additive and subtractive color mixing was groundbreaking for color photography and later also for color printing technology.


The melanochromoscope

In 1874, Ducos du Hauron applied for a patent for the melanochromoscope. This camera worked with semi-transparent mirrors and color filters (blue, green, red), which allowed three black-and-white plates to be exposed at the same time. The negatives produced were then converted into positives, colored and combined according to the principles of additive color mixing. This resulted in a correct color image.


The importance for photography

With this process, Ducos du Hauron laid the foundation for later colour techniques. Due to his findings, he is considered the "father of color photography". All later dyeing processes are based on this principle to this day.


While color photography created new possibilities, another, darker side of photography was also revealed: its ability to manipulate realities.



Early Picture Forgeries:

Eugène Appert and the "Crimes of the Commune"


The French photographer Eugène Appert (1837–1908) is known for his photomontages from 1871, which are described as "Crimes of the Commune". This series was created after the bloody suppression of the Paris Commune, which lasted from March to May 1871, and aimed to portray the movement and its members in a negative light.


However, the images are not real photographs of actual events. Instead, Appert had actors in costumes pose in front of photographed locations to recreate scenes of violence and destruction. This technique of early image manipulation served as a political tool of propaganda.


The importance for photography

Eugène Appert's works are early examples of the use of photography for political manipulation. They impressively illustrate how images can be used to create targeted narratives and influence public perception



Images in motion: Edward Muybridge and the Birth of Chronophotography


In 1872, the Californian entrepreneur Leland Stanford commissioned the well-known photographer Edward Muybridge with a task: to investigate whether all four hooves of a galloping horse leave the ground at the same time. Due to the speed, this was not visible to the naked eye. Muybridge accepted the challenge and tinkered with the experiment for years in order to be able to capture every thousandth of a second.


The procedure

He placed a row of cameras next to each other at a distance of only 7.5 cm and triggered them with the help of wires that the horse broke through as it galloped past. In this way, Muybridge was able to capture every moment of the gallop in frames – a fairly simple but effective technique.


With the images taken, Muybridge was able to depict the horse's movement in detail and it actually showed that all four hooves are in the air. But he went one step further: In order to make the movement visible to a wider audience, Muybridge projected the individual images in rapid succession with the help of a specially developed device, the Zoopraxiscope. This created the illusion of movement – the first step towards cinema as we know it today.


The importance for photography

Muybridge's photo series "The Attitudes of Animals in Motion" became a milestone in the history of photography and marked a turning point in the representation of movement. Through his precise studies of the movement of animals and humans, he not only laid the foundation for cinematography, but also influenced artists and scientists in a wide variety of disciplines.


The Dry Plate


Photographing using the wet collodion process was a challenge: photographers had to coat glass plates with chemicals on site and develop the images immediately. This meant that they had to travel with a mobile darkroom - a logistically and technically extremely complex process.


The solution: Richard Leach Maddox and the Dry Plate

Inventors looked for a simpler solution. The English doctor Richard Leach Maddox's solution in 1871 was the best: he developed glass plates that were coated with a gelatin-bromide silver solution. These dry plates no longer had to be prepared or fixed immediately before or after recording, meaning that mobile darkrooms were no longer needed.


The gelatin drying process was optimized in the following years. One of the biggest improvements was the reduction in exposure time, making snapshots possible.


New industrial opportunities

Industrial production of dry panels began in the 1880s. Photographers could now buy ready-made plates, which completely eliminated the need for complex chemical treatment.  Nevertheless, the dry plates remained heavy and fragile, which meant that the search for more flexible and robust image carriers quickly became important.



The first roll film camera


The American amateur photographer and entrepreneur George Eastman also entered the market and founded a company to sell dry plates. However, he became famous for another groundbreaking invention: the first roll film camera.


The roll film

The search for alternatives to heavy and impractical glass plates began as early as the 1870s. A significant innovation was the introduction of roll cassettes containing negative paper, first coated with collodion and later with a gelatin emulsion. A decisive breakthrough finally came in 1887 with the roll film made of celluloid.


George Eastman broke away from his original business idea, dry plates, and instead focused on developing roll film.


The Kodak No. 1: The first roll-film camera

In 1888, he founded a company called the Eastman Kodak Company. A year later, he introduced a camera specifically designed for roll film: the Kodak No. 1. This handy camera could hold up to 100 shots and was easy to use A standout benefit was the unique service Kodak offered: After the film was full, customers could send the camera to the company, processing the images, refilling the film, and shipping the camera back ready for use.


Importance for photography

The introduction of roll film and the roll film camera brought a significant boost to amateur photography. There was no need for laborious plate changes and the development of the images could be conveniently outsourced.



The cinematographer


With the rapid development of photography, roll film opened a completely new chapter: the creation of film.


Edward Muybridge (see blog “Milestones in the History of Photography, Part 3”) made his first attempts to make movement visible using photography. Later, Thomas Edison came up with the kinetograph, a device that recorded images in rapid succession on a roll of film. This technology was supplemented by the kinetoscope, with which the recorded images could be played back one after the other.


However, this system was limited to viewing by individuals and was still far from the public screening of a film.


The Lumière Brothers: The Breakthrough to Cinema

The decisive step was taken by the brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière, who, as the sons of a photographic plate manufacturer, were familiar with the technology of photography. In 1894, they developed the cinematograph, a device that doubled as a film camera and projector. In 1895 they patented the device.


The cinematograph worked roughly as follows: The unexposed film strip was moved jerkily in the cinematograph, briefly exposed and then rolled up in a metal cassette for development. To show the film, the exposed film strip was moved past a light source, allowing the moving images to be cast onto a screen.


In December 1895, the Lumière brothers presented their films to the public for the first time and laid the foundation for one of the most important forms of culture and entertainment of modern times.








Further information:


About the company: www.picturemaxx.com  Contact: marketing@picturemaxx.com






Sources:

Louis Ducos du Hauron: Die Farbfotografie | Camera Museum

Eugène Appert and the „Crimes of the Commune“: Bildmanipulation: Falsche Fotos vor der Digital-Ära - DER SPIEGEL

Edward Muybridge and the Birth of the Chronophotography: Foto-Pionier Muybridge: Hopp, hopp, hopp, Bildchen lauft Galopp! - DER SPIEGEL

Zuletzt aufgerufen am 06.12.2024


 
 
bottom of page