History of color photography, from dreams to reality

Every time we record the moments of life or the beautiful scenery around us, we often expect the results to be colored images with true color as well as to reproduce exactly what we are seeing. However, when everything present in the picture is represented by color, how many people realize how long it took scientists to bring the color image to today?

Birth history of color photography

In the old days, at the time when we started to realize that we could take photos by capturing light into the camera, people also wanted to exploit the colors that were included in the photos. These experiments began in the mid-nineteenth century, initially scientists and photographers wanted to find a material that could "harvest" the color range in light to include it in images. And finally, in 1851, someone found a way to capture the first color image.

Photo of Levi Hill.

Father Levi Hill was the one who discovered this color photography process . He used to use the Daguerre process to take photos but was disappointed that he could not reproduce the colors in the photos. Many people seem skeptical when Hill declares that he has found this new photographic process. He refused to share his process until 1856, when he began to mention in his book. However, when photographers get on this book, they realize that the recipe is so complicated that it is almost useless for them.

However, it was not until 2007 that researchers at the National Museum of American History analyzed Hill's work and realized that he had actually found a way to reproduce colors on images at the time. The researchers found that his process was very pale and he used colorants to add color to the images. Thus, Levi Hill did not lie about his invention, but he was more "post-production" for his works.

In 1886, physicist Gabriel Lippmann used his knowledge to create a color photographic work, which we can see as the first color photograph of humanity without the use of dye. It is known that he exploited this process by relying on interference phenomena and optical waves . In 1906, he introduced his processing with color photos, including photographs of parrots, orange baskets, flags and a colored patterned window on the glass. With this invention, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Lippmann's photographic work.

Perhaps many people now think that the story of color photography will stop with Lippmann's interference invention, but really, this is just a beginning. His invention is still too complicated, whereby the emulsion in the film needs more exposure time, and the process needs to use toxic mercury.

At the same time, Jame Clerk Maxwell, a Scottish physicist, has been diligently researching and defining the color image theory , the beginning of our later color photography method. Accordingly, Maxwell used a camera to capture a scene through 3 different color filters, including red, green and blue. When these images are uploaded to the projector with appropriate filters, they will produce true color images. Then, in 1861, he presented this photographic principle at the Royal Institution, accompanied by a photo of his famous three-color ribbon.

The famous color photo of James Clerk Maxwell.

However, shooting a scene or object with 3 different photos and 3 different color filters is not easy at all, for example, the camera may accidentally be moved due to external effects, or the scene or object is also changed from the beginning. And to overcome this problem, two color cameras were invented to assist photographers in conquering color photos.

Much later, Louis Ducos du Hauron came up with a better idea for the process of color photography: stacking 3 different color-sensitive emulsions on the film, and from there light could pass through the film at the same time. Just use with normal camera. Accordingly, the blue light sensitive emulsion will be at the top, followed by the green emulsion layer and finally the red emulsion. This idea of ​​Hauron marked an important step forward in the field of world photography. However, this method still has a problem: light is weakened after each passing of emulsion layers.

Although this is still not the perfect solution, this product is still sold to consumers. In the early 1930s, Agfa-Ansco of the United States produced a film called Colorol . Consumers who bought this type of film and after finishing shooting will send it back to Agfa-Ansco to be coated. The image quality at that time was not high enough because the bright image was scattered after passing through the emulsion, but still satisfied enough for the amateurs.

By 1935, Kodak introduced a new color film called Kodachrome . Strangely, this product was originally developed by two composers Leopold Mannes and Leopold Godowsky, Jr. These two men were later recruited by Kodak Research Laboratories and created their favorite films to this day.

Kodak's method at the time was to use three emulsions on the same film base, capable of capturing wavelengths in red, green and blue. By the 1960s, Kodak's Kodachrome film and a number of other film brands began to appear on the market, but the price was still expensive compared to black and white film. Until the 1970s, cost was reduced enough to bring color pictures to consumers more. And finally in the 1980s, black-and-white movies were no longer dominant in the everyday photographic genre.

Photo taken with Kodachrome film by photographer Chalmers Butterfield.

By 2010, the last Kodachrome film rolls in the production line were released and ended the life here, which made many people take photos of regret and disappointment. This is understandable because starting at this time, the digital photography fever has exploded, resulting in us accidentally closing the door of the film.