Comments on: WW1 in color

WW1 in color

ShawnString — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 06:01:31 -0800

Color Makes it Real. Hundreds of color photos from World War I. The site is in French, the interface is horriable, but the pictures can be haunting. Click on the links under Accés aux images for the pictures. Via beautifulstuff.org

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 06:11:29 -0800

Very cool.

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 06:13:41 -0800

Magnifique. A lot of these remind me of the cover of Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance by Richard Powers, which is a decent novel partly about WWI.

By: antifuse

antifuse — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 06:42:30 -0800

How is it that this is just getting posted now? I remember seeing this elsewhere many many many moons ago. Very cool stuff though.

By: briank

briank — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 06:43:48 -0800

Previously on MetaFilter. Perhaps not the exact same link, but pretty much the same content. Great photos. Our whole vision of that time is shaped so much by b&w photos and films that the color seems unreal.

By: allen.spaulding

allen.spaulding — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 06:46:05 -0800

The New Yorker ran a spectacular piece on WWI photography by Susan Sontag a few years back.

By: Malor

Malor — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 06:50:09 -0800

One thing I really wonder... how the heck do they decide on some of these colors? In this one, for instance... where on earth did they get that shade of red for the hat color? I mean, maybe it's real and historically accurate, but it looks SO fake. I have a hunch that if you showed this picture to that guy, he'd fall over laughing. Great link/pictures, though. Thanks!

By: Malor

Malor — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 06:52:24 -0800

Oh and briank... the previous link you posted is 404 Not Found. So there's no easy way to determine whether or not it's a dupe. Can't really blame Shawn for that one.

By: jsavimbi

jsavimbi — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 06:59:43 -0800

Awesome!! thanks.

By: allen.spaulding

allen.spaulding — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 07:01:35 -0800

Malor, the link works for me.

By: magullo

magullo — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 07:07:06 -0800

Related how the heck do they decide on some of these colors? Unless I am wrong, they didn't *decide* anything related to color, but rather took the same picture 3 times using 3 different color filters and then combined the negatives.

By: nkyad

nkyad — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 07:27:01 -0800

Maybe you have too much of a language barrier to deal with, but I found the interface far from "horriable", specially if you consider you're linking directly to page supposed to opened as a second window (from this main window - the 1918 photo sections in under "Visite Guidées", "Les Autochromes de la guerre 14-18". There are other interesting sections there). For what it is worth, the best way to view the (awesome) photos seems to be by author. Just click on their names in the top-right and you do to a page with nice thumbnails for every photo from that author.

By: Western Infidels

Western Infidels — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 07:33:48 -0800

Malor, magullo: These photos are Autochromes - full-color photographs, not colorized black-and-white, and not triple-exposures. This page (from previous MeFi post) includes some basic history of Autochromes. I expect the reason we're not more familiar with Autochromes today is that they were expensive, cumbersome, and delicate, and that there probably was no cheap/easy way - or maybe no acceptable way at all - to make duplicates or prints.

By: briank

briank — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 07:43:29 -0800

Malor -- if you read the MeFi thread rather than just the original link in the FPP, there are links to the same stuff. I'm not trying to make a big complaint about it, just noting that it's been covered before. Too bad there isn't more like it, actually.

By: The Salaryman

The Salaryman — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 08:04:26 -0800

Can anyone shed any more light on Autochromes? I know vaguely what they are and how they work with starch grains and dye but it would be great to know more (yes, I looked at that link). The colour - is it more a question of being faded than being inaccurate compared to a more modern process? Any more archives of them?

By: horseblind

horseblind — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 08:23:28 -0800

Wow! Some perfect postcards here. The beauty abounds.

By: Western Infidels

Western Infidels — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 08:46:12 -0800

I know only what I've read on-line about Autochromes, but there are more technical details here than anyplace else I've seen, although it's really not terribly technical. It says or hints that: 1) The dye colors used (reddish-orange, green, and bluish-purple) were somewhat odd. They often produced pleasing photos, but I'll bet they were never very accurate, color-wise. 2) And the color accuracy can worsen as an Autochrome ages, too. 3) Some of the details about the process as practiced are educated guesses at best. The page also says: ...if you could see an original well preserved Autochrome today... [it would] appear as though [it was] processed only yesterday. Which (judging from the example provided) I disagree with. The colors have an artificial, unearthly sort of feel to them. While sometimes quite beautiful, they don't look like modern photos, IMHO.

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 09:22:26 -0800

Early color technology was very limited in the spectrum of colors that could be reproduced. I'd say these are easily as accurate as could be produced in that era. Compare, for instance, these images to the early 2-strip technicolor movie process from the mid-to-late 20's. These WWI images look far more realistic. Heck, compare these to any color snapshot from the 50s or 60s. Sure, the more recent images have a greater range of color, but I wouldn't call them accurate, per-se. Given the volitilty of the early processes, I would be willing to accept the suggestion that a fresh, well-preserved Autochrome could actually look very nice indeed.

By: rmmcclay

rmmcclay — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 09:35:20 -0800

I found these beautiful. Bombed ruins with marvelous lighting. And an odd mix.

By: The Salaryman

The Salaryman — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 11:04:03 -0800

(thanks to Western Infidels and Thorzdad for adding more and reminding me of the difference between range and accuracy!)

By: Devils Slide

Devils Slide — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 14:48:20 -0800

The History Channel had a four or five part miniseries on WWI last week where all the footage was colorized. It was great educational viewing, and the photos and film clips were mesmerizing. All of you who enjoyed this site and get the History Channel should try to catch the reruns.