40 Old Color Pictures Show Our World A Century Ago

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