When you think of old pictures, you naturally imagine them black and white, but as you can see from these amazing photos from the beginning of the 20th century, color photography was around for a lot longer than you.
Before 1907, if someone wanted a color photograph, then a professional colorist would have to color it in using different dyes and pigments. However, two French brothers, famous Auguste and Louis Lumière, changed everything with a game-changing process they named the Autochrome Lumière. They used dyed grains of potato starch and light-sensitive emulsion so that they could produce vibrant photos without needing additional colorization. Despite being hard to manufacture and also a bit expensive, the process became popular amongst amateur photographers.
Scroll down for a breathtaking collection of 100-year-old color photographs using the Autochrome Lumière.
Based on Bored Panda
#1 Christina In Red, 1913
Mervyn O’Gorman
#2 Flower Street Vendor, Paris, 1914
Albert Kahn
#3 Sisters Sitting In A Garden Tying Roses Together, 1911
Etheldreda Janet Laing
#4 Heinz And Eva On The Hillside, 1925
Friedrich Paneth
#5 Moulin Rouge, Paris, 1914
Albert Kahn
#6 Daydreams, 1909
John Cimon Warburg
#7 Musing (Mrs. A. Van Besten), C. 1910
Alfonse Van Besten
#8 The Eiffel Tower, Paris, 1914
Albert Kahn
#9 A Girl Holds A Doll Next To Soldiers' Equipment In Reims, France, 1917
Fernand Cuville
#10 The Grenata Street Army, 1915
Léon Gimpel
#11 Among The First Coloured Pictures Ever Taken By Louis Lumière, 1907
Mo
#12 Two Girls On A Balcony, 1908
Etheldreda Laing
#13 Young Girl Amidst Marguerites, C. 1912
Alfonse Van Besten
#14 Air Balloons, Paris, 1914
Albert Kahn
#15 Charlie Chaplin, 1918
Charles C. Zoller
#16 Autochrome Of Mark Twain, 1908
Alvin Langdon Coburn
#17 Christina In Red, 1913
Mervyn O’Gorman
#18 Outdoor Market, Paris, 1914
Albert Kahn
#19 Woman Smoking Opium, 1915
Léon Busy
#20 Two Girls In Oriental Costume, 1908
Etheldreda Janet Laing
#21 Van Besten Painting In His Garden, 1912
Alfonse Van Besten
#22 Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mostar, 1913
Albert Kahn
#23 Eva And Heinz On The Shore Of Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, C. 1927
Friedrich Adolf Paneth
#24 Sweden, Near Gagnef (Mother And Daughter In Traditional Clothes), 1910
Albert Kahn
#25 Girl In A Garden With Hollyhocks, 1908
Etheldreda Laing
#26 Else Reading By The Nile, 1920
Friedrich Adolf Paneth
#27 Woman And Girl By A Brook, 1910
Charles Corbet
#28 Family Portrait At Roannay, Belgium, 1913
Georges Gilon
#29 The Neptune Fountain, Cheltenham, 1910
John Cimon Warburg
#30 An Autochrome Of Two Sisters, 1908
Etheldreda Laing
#31 Apan (Young Samurai), 1912
Albert Kahn
#32 Autochrome Of Else Paneth On A Camel, 1913
Friedrich Paneth
#33 Japan, Kyoto, 1912
Albert Kahn
#34 Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sarajevo, 1912
Albert Kahn
#35 Mother Of Seven Making Fringes For Knitted Shawls, Galway, Ireland, 29 May 1913
Albert Kahn
#36 Louis Lumière's Daughter And Her Dolls, 1913
Mo
#37 Lanchester 38hp Tourer, 1913
Unknown
#38 Porte Saint Denis, Paris, 1914
Albert Kahn
#39 Joan In Red Riding Hood Cape With Basket, 1907
John Cimon Warburg
#40 Autochrome Of A Young Girl, 1910
Etheldreda Laing
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