Some very early colour photographs

[David Hughes]

Hi,

I think you'll like these; they are an eye opener...

http://podakuni.livejournal.com/681514.html

And the other pages are just as interesting but I like these three negative/pack pictures most.

And they were taken about 100 years ago.

Regards, David

 

[ian_watts]

Prokudin-Gorskii, presumably? A remarkable record both because of the photos being in colour and irrespective of that.

 

[Dralowid]

So (as I understand it) the people in these photographs were able to stand stock still for three exposures and without the taking lens moving? Wow.

 

[Gareth Rees]

As you say David, an eye opener

 

[Mr_Flibble]

It's indeed Prokudin-Gorskii (in the flesh in the first image).

Google "The Empire that was Russia" and you'll find more.

 

[David Hughes]

So (as I understand it) the people in these photographs were able to stand stock still for three exposures and without the taking lens moving? Wow.

Hi,

In those days you could swap three filters and three plates one after the other in a normal camera, or use a sort of stereo camera with three side by side lenses or else the Kromskop.

The Kromskop had one lens and an internal system of semi silvered mirrors and filters to expose three plates simultaneously. My money's on this system.

What I haven't sorted in my mind is how they managed with the red as ortho. film ignored it; was it panchromatic, which was known at the time or what? Perhaps half red and half IR (Edit or UV?) and the DoF fudging it...

Regards, David

 

[David Hughes]

Prokudin-Gorskii, presumably? A remarkable record both because of the photos being in colour and irrespective of that.

Hi,

Yes, credit given in the first paragraph to Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky, he's not too well known in the west and deserves his place in history. He lived in Paris (where he had studied?) from 1918 to 1944 and I often wonder about his colour pictures of France.

Regards, David

 

[nobbylon]

fabulous, thanks for the link

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

I've spent some time looking through my heap of old photography books and Frederic Ives, the inventor of the Kromskop, doesn't seem to be mentioned much but a quick internet search found this:-

http://www.cineressources.net/consultationPdf/web/o000/127.pdf

The book seems available as a printed on demand one. A search soon found a copy and it's been ordered.

Regards, David

 

[zuikologist]

Fantastic, thanks for sharing.

 

[Bill Clark]

Thanks for sharing David.

Found this information:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Prokudin-Gorsky

Info on Library of Congress processing:

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/gorskii.html

Anything done post scan by Library of Congress?

If interested in a project to make color photos with this process:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S28OUlavAvg

At any rate, interesting of how folks lived back then.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

Thanks for the LoC link. Another bit of the jigsaw falls into place.

Tried the other link but got 'This page does not currently exist' and so gave up there.

Regards, David

 

[Bill Clark]

Thanks David.

Hope this works:

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Сергей_Михайлович_Прокудин-Горский

Also I changed in the above memo first link to history.

And a You Tube video in my first comment and young person demonstrating how to work this into a fun project!

 

[David Hughes]

Thanks Bill, that link works and will be digested and savoured...

Regards, David

 

[Dwig]

Hi,

In those days you could swap three filters and three plates one after the other in a normal camera, or use a sort of stereo camera with three side by side lenses or else the Kromskop.

The Kromskop had one lens and an internal system of semi silvered mirrors and filters to expose three plates simultaneously. My money's on this system....

Actually the evidence indicate otherwise.

According to the various linked pages:

1. the 3 separation images are on a single plate and not separate plates as in the Kromskop.
2. there are obvious color variations in moving objects (ripples on water, waving grass, ...) proving that the 3 images were taken at slightly different times

The images were apparently made with a sliding back arrangement. Whether is was like Ive's sliding back design wit the filters in the back near the plate or whether the filters were moved at the lens doesn't seem to be known.

Other statements claim the camera was his own design, though it could well have been some manufactured camera that he modified and the modifications could well have been copies of existing designs.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

Yes, I saw the ripples in the water etc but assumed that was due to the long exposures which could have been several seconds or even minutes allowing for the red etc filters. In the PDF it suggests (in 1898) a minute or more.

I wondered if he had modified an existing camera as the Kromskop would then be the obvious candidate. And the LoC describes them as triple negatives and the Kromskop took three plates or negatives one above the other.

Regards, David

PS No sooner posted than I remembered this:- https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Rgb-compose-Alim_Khan.jpg

 

[Erik van Straten]

David, this is great. Even without color the pictures are fantastic.

Erik.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

Thanks. The quality is high isn't it? An eye-opener as I said.

If you do a search on the page for 'kuzma' you'll find a comment with some thumbnails linking you to individual photo's. Go to the third tab and you'll find pictures during the restoration but in Russian. Alas, you need to go to each thumbnail in turn and click.

Edit, or better still:- http://prokudin-gorskiy.ru/tree.php?ID=195

Regards, David

 

[Dwig]

Hi,

Yes, I saw the ripples in the water etc but assumed that was due to the long exposures which could have been several seconds or even minutes allowing for the red etc filters. In the PDF it suggests (in 1898) a minute or more. ...

The color patterns seen in the water and more indistinctly in the grass are caused by the subject being in one place when one color was exposed and in a different place when another color was exposed. This is common in 3-shot cameras whether done with 3 shots in a conventional camera, with a sliding back, or on modern color film using a "Harris Shutter". They wouldn't happen in a single shot camera (e.g. Kromskop, ...) regardless of the length of the exposure.

 

[skucera]

Thanks for posting these links! These photos are very helpful for a book I'm writing that's set in Russia during the Russian Civil War. I've lacked visuals to describe in order to help the reader get absorbed into the atmosphere of the time and place, and these photos provide me ample detail to sprinkle throughout as my main character discovers imperial Russia.

Scott