Milestones in the history of photography

Dec 9, 2024

Today, a photo can be taken with a single click on your smartphone – easier and faster than ever before. But behind this apparent lightness lies a centuries-long history full of experiments and groundbreaking innovations. After we have already dealt with the origins of photography and the first processes of photography, in this blog post we focus on the exciting development of color photography. How did you manage to capture the world not only in black and white, but also in vivid colors? What techniques and procedures have made this possible? In addition, in this blog post, we also take a look at how a photographer managed to capture movement in images.

Part 3: From Color to Movement: The First Color Photographs and the Origin of Film

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.

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.