A very interesting book on ‘The Autochrome Lumière’ which was a very early colour process patented in 1903.
It is an additive colour ‘screen-plate’ process: the medium contains a glass plate, with a random mosaic of microscopic grains of potato starch and lampblack filling the space between grains. This was covered by a form of shellac on which was spread an impermeable black-and-white, panchromatic silver halide emulsion. The grains are a mixture dyed orange, green and violet, which act as colour filters.
The plate is processed in a similar manner to slide film.
A philanthropist ‘Albert Kahn’ embarked on an ambitious project to create a colour photographic record from some 50 countries. His collection of around 72,000 Autochromes had been largely forgotten, this book helps to redress that.
The Wonderful World of Albert Kahn: Colour Photographs from a Lost Age.
David A Lockwood 