Session 1 - Colour Photography

So, for the first session I wanted to talk about something different, something that you may never have thought about before, but had certainly taken for granted. What's more I wanted to make sure that it was not something too technical, because all that will be covered in due course- and this was the introductory session after all.

What I find interesting is that the colour format is everywhere. It is so very easily accessible in the modern day. Whether you are walking past a billboard or reading a magazine, colour photographs are everywhere. Now, I'm not discounting the popularity of black and white photography that exists today, but colour is here,there and everywhere. It just seems so natural, because its showing our eyes can see, or a version of it.

But perhaps we should spare a thought for those people who innovated and developed ('scuse the pun) the technique of colour photography, in a world where everything was documented in black and white. So the first colour photograph was taken by James Clark Maxwell in 1861, which is known as the 'Tartan Ribbon' which you can see here:


It's not even a tartan ribbon, but I suppose that only demonstrates that idea of colour photography was in its infancy. James Clark Maxwell was well ahead of his time. He used the colour separation method, whereby he took 3 photos, with 3 different filters. One red, one blue and one green. The colour photograph was a projection of all 3. Genius!

In the coming years various innovators utilised different methods to produce their early colour photographs. Some where 'additive' and some where 'subtractive.' I can't say I properly understand how they worked when I read up about them. One of these innovators was Louis Arthur Ducos du Hauron, and apart from having an awesome name he took this photo using the subtractive method, in Agen, France, 1877:

It is astonishing to think that this photo was taken over 130 years ago, and knowing france, the landscape probably looks exactly the same today!

Despite these advances, colour photography was out of reach for the majority of photographers, and on top of that the amount of time in the dark room processing these photos must have been immense.

Another of these early photographers was Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky, who was funded by Tsar Nicholas II to photograph Russia in the early 20th Century.

Here you can see the process by which the eventual colour photograph resulted.
Now I was truly astonished at the photos that I saw in the full set. Seeing such photos from the early 1900s added a new dimension and appreciation of what the world was like that time - or certainly Russia at the very least. I strongly urge you to take a look this collection of photos, because they truly are stunning

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/08/russia_in_color_a_century_ago.html

There is one other notable person that I'd like to introduce you to and that is Albert Kahn. What he did was send out half a dozen photgraphers around the globe to document all the peoples of all different cultures. From France to Egypt to Japan, they really succeed in portraying the diversity of the world at that time.





Between 1909 and 1931 over 50 countries were documented - and the result was a collection of 72,000 photographs. The collection was nevery widely recognised but recently a selection has been published as the 'Wonderful World of Albert Kahn.' Here's the website if you want to check out more photos (look at the autochrome section)

http://www.albertkahn.co.uk/index.html



It wasn't until 1935 that the real revolution had begun. Who do we thank? Kodak! It was the Kodachrome which was invented by Leopold Godowsky and Leopold Mannes. It has been said that colour film was invented by God and Man after their names. A year later, in 1936 the 35mm colour format was available, and from then on the rest is history. Well, isn't everything?!
Anyway, from then on, Colour film has produced some of the most amazing photographs ever taken, however the format has been engulfed by the Digital format. Kodachromes were long in decline and after 74 years, the last roll of film was manufactured, used and developed. There is something quite poetic and distinctly sad that one of the last rolls of Kodachrome was used to shoot an Indian Tribe on the verge of extinction. This has been documented by National Geographic, and I believe it will be in an issue out some time next year. Read more about it here:

http://www.kansas.com/2010/07/14/1403115/last-kodachrome-roll-processed.html

When modern digital camera technology was first produced, photography entered a new era, where photography available to more people than ever before. A lot of the time you only need phone - with a camera on it. Colour photography is available at your fingertips at an instant. A far cry from the lengthy process of the early photographic experimenters. Even Polaroid cameras are being produced once again after a (silly) abscence.

Perhaps what you can take away from reading this is a deeper appreciation for the abilitily to shoot in colour, for you to try and look for the vividness of colour in everyday day life, and last of all, to appreciate how amazing the past looks in colour.

Dan