Trending Now - 40+ Of The Oldest Color Photos Ever Taken Let Us See How The World Looked Over 100 Years Ago
When you think of old photographs, you naturally think in terms of black and white, but as you can see from these stunning photographs from the turn of the 20th century, color photography has been around for a lot longer than you think.
Before 1907, if you wanted a color photograph then you (well, a professional colorist) basically had to color it in using different dyes and pigments, but two French brothers called Auguste and Louis Lumière changed all that with a gamechanging process that they called the Autochrome Lumière. Using dyed grains of potato starch and light-sensitive emulsion, they were able to produce vibrant photographs without the need for additional colorisation. Despite being difficult to manufacture and also somewhat expensive, the process was very popular among amateur photographers and one of the world’s first books of color photography was published using the Autochrome Lumière technique.
The brothers revolutionized the world of color photography until Kodak took things to a whole new level with the invention of Kodachrome film in 1935, a lighter and more convenient alternative that quickly made the Autochrome Lumière obsolete (although its popularity continued in France up until the 1950s). Kodachrome was also eventually overtaken by the rise of digital photography (Kodak stopped manufacturing Kodachrome in 2009), which is now by far the world’s most popular way to take pictures, but modern advances in photographic technology wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work of early pioneers like Auguste and Louis Lumière. Scroll down for a collection of stunning century-old color photographs using their groundbreaking technique.
An autochrome of Etheldreda Janet Laing daughter in a garden, holding a brightly coloured bunch of pink flowers, 1908
Image credits: Etheldreda Janet Laing
Autochrome by Friedrich Paneth, 1925
Image credits: Friedrich Paneth
Autochrome by an artist, 1913
Image credits: Unknown
Autochrome by Friedrich Paneth, 1913
Image credits: Friedrich Paneth
Christina In Red, 1913
Image credits: Mervyn O’Gorman
Margate beach, blue girl , 1915
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
Snowy mountains, 1915
Image credits: Friedrich Paneth
Janet and Iris Laing, 1911
Image credits: Etheldreda Janet Laing
Autochrome of Mark Twain, 1908.
Image credits: Alvin Langdon Coburn
Two girls in Oriental costume, 1908
Image credits: Etheldreda Janet Laing
Autochrome of French soldiers operating machine guns during the Second Battle of the Aisne, 1917
Image credits: Fernand Cuville
Autochrome of a French military cemetery, 1916
Image credits: Jules Gervais-Courtellemont
Autochrome of a French military observation post, 1917
Image credits: Paul Castelnau
Autochrome by an unknown artist of the Italian battleship Caio Duilio during the early 20th century
Image credits: Unknown
Autochome of a street in Jerusalem by an unknown artist during the early 20th century
Image credits: Roger-Viollet collection
Autochrome of Else Paneth on a camel, 1913
Image credits: Friedrich Paneth
Autochrome by an unknown artist, 1911
Image credits: Unknown
French Alps by an unknown artist, c. 1920
Christina In Red, 1913
Image credits: Mervyn O’Gorman
Paris photo, 1914
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Paris photo, 1914
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Paris photo, 1914
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Paris photo, 1914
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Paris photo, 1914
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Paris photo, 1914
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Paris photo, 1914
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Paris photo, 1914
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Paris photo, 1914
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Paris photo, 1914
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Christina In Red, 1913
Image credits: Mervyn O’Gorman
Christina In Red, 1913
Image credits: Mervyn O’Gorman
Christina In Red, 1913
Image credits: Mervyn O’Gorman
Christina In Red, 1913
Image credits: Mervyn O’Gorman
The Japanese parasol, 1909
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
Joan in Red Riding Hood cape with basket, 1907
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
Saltburn Sands, 1915
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
Cow on Saltburn sands, 1915
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
The orange stall, 1908
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
Children by the breakwater, 1908
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
Peggy reading, 1909
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
Daydreams, 1909
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
Peggy in the garden, 1909
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
The green mat, 1909
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
On the sands, 1910
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
Birch trees on a river bank, 1909
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
The Neptune Fountain, Cheltenham, 1910
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
The last digger, 1910
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
Children drawing, 1915
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
Girl with a bucket, 1915
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
Girl in a white dress, 1915
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
A small customer, 1915
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
Peggy in the garden, 1909
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
The butcher’s shop, 1915
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
A rusty buoy, 1908
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
Two girls at the gate, 1915
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
Mrs. Warburg, 1915
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
Whitby, the dredger, 1915
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
Staithes Harbor, 1915
Image credits: John Cimon Warburg
A portrait of John Cimon Warburg
Image credits: Helen Missinger Murdoch
Girl in a garden with hollyhocks, 1908
Image credits: Etheldreda Laing
Autochrome of a young girl, 1910
Image credits: Etheldreda Laing
Autochrome of a young girl, 1910
Image credits: Etheldreda Laing
Girl sitting with flowers, 1908
Image credits: Etheldreda Laing
Autochrome of a young girl, 1910
Image credits: Etheldreda Laing
An autochrome of two sisters, 1908
Image credits: Etheldreda Laing
Two girls in a garden, 1908
Image credits: Etheldreda Laing
Etheldreda Laing, 1910
Image credits: Etheldreda Laing
Two girls on a balcony, 1908
Image credits: Etheldreda Laing
Two girls in a garden, 1908
Image credits: Etheldreda Laing
An autochrome of a girl, daughter of the photographer, with a parasol by a flower bed
Image credits: Etheldreda Laing
Girl with a parasol sitting on a bench, 1908
Image credits: Etheldreda Laing
Etheldreda Laing daughter dressed in a pink kimono, 1908
Image credits: Etheldreda Laing
Etheldreda Laing daughter dressed in a pink kimono, 1908
Image credits: Etheldreda Laing
The younger girl stands beside her sister holding a pink parasol. The older girl rests her bonnet on her lap, 1908
Image credits: Etheldreda Laing
Girl standing in a garden, 1908
Image credits: Etheldreda Laing
Girl sitting in a chair holding flowers, 1908
Image credits: Etheldreda Laing
Eva, Heinz and Else sitting on a wall, 1924
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Otztal, Austria, 1912
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Skiing across ice in Otztal, Austria, 1912
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
At the entrance to the Pyramid of Menkare, 1913
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
The kiosk of Philae, 1913
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Karnak, Egypt, 1913
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Market stalls outside an Egyptian ruin, 1913
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Sphinx and camel, 1913
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Else reading by the Nile, 1920
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Highland Castle, Scotland, 1920
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Beach scene with flag, 1925
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Heinz and Else looking out to sea, 1925
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Mountain peaks, 1925
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Boy in a tree, 1920
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
The family at the lake, 1925
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Eva at Mount Spinale, c. 1925
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Children on a rooftop, c. 1925
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
St. Vasily’s Cathedral, Moscow, 1934
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
St. Mark’s Cathedral, Venice, 1925
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
St. Mark’s Cathedral, Venice, 1925
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
People watching a yachting race, c. 1925
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Eva and Heinz on the shore of Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, c. 1927
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Stilvie Pass, Italy, c. 1930
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Eva doing a handstand, c. 1925
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Eva climbing a rock face, Lake Luzern, Switzerland, c. 1927
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Heinz Paneth on the beach, c. 1929
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Autochrome by Adolf Friedrich Paneth, 1925
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
The Paneth family on a boat in Lake Garda, Italy, 1930
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Eva poses after a successful hunt in Scotland, c. 1920
Eva Paneth at Lake Garda, c.1930
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Relatives of the Paneths in Scotland, c. 1933
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Meran, Italy, c 1930
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Children at sunset, c. 1930
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Quay market, Finland, c. 1934
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Le Val Andre, Brittany, 1938
Image credits: Friedrich Adolf Paneth
Senegalese soldiers serving in the French Army as infantrymen are resting in a room with guns and equipment next to them, 16th June 1917
Image credits: Paul Castelnau
A girl holds a doll next to soldiers’ equipment in Reims, France, 1917
Image credits: Fernand Cuville
Lunch of a French soldier in front of a damaged library, 1st April 1917
Image credits: Paul Castelnau
Two French soldiers assigned to a telephone station are washing their laundry in a trough of a fountain, while three others are watching, 18th June 1917
Image credits: Paul Castelnau
French soldiers dig through the rubble of a destroyed building in Reims, France, 1917
Image credits: Fernand Cuville
A woman with a cart filled with milk cans in Rue de Vesle and a man with another cart in Rue de Talleyrand behind her. 3rd March 1917
Image credits: Paul Castelnau
H,G Ponting, Captain Scott’s Antarctic Expedition 1910 – 1912, 1st April 1911, Antarctic afterglow at dusk on Autochrome film, picture taken at around 6pm
Image credits: Getty Images
newsvendor in reims streets, 1917
Image credits: Apic
Morocco, Fes (Senegalese sniper), 1913
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Egypt, Giza, 1913
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Japan, Kyoto, 1912
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mostar, 1913
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Mongolia, near Ulaanbaatar (Buddhist lama), 1913
Image credits: Albert Kahn
India, Bombay (Sadus), 1913
Image credits: Albert Kahn
apan (young samurai), 1912
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sarajevo, 1912
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Morocco, Benguerir, 1912
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar (prisoner), 1913
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Sweden, near Gagnef (Mother and daughter in traditional clothes), 1910
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Egypt, Assuan, 1914 ( Left) and Pakistan, Lahore (Sadu and Brahmin), 1914 (Right)
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Krusevac, Serbia (market scene), 1913
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Paris, 1914
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Paris, 1914
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Paris, 1914
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Galway, Ireland 1 May 1913
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Galway, Ireland 1 May 1913
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Galway, Ireland 1 May 1913
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Man cutting turf, South Connemara, Ireland, 29 May 1913
Image credits: Albert Kahn
A village wheelwright in County Louth, June 1913
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Mother of seven making fringes for knitted shawls, Galway, Ireland, 29 May 1913
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Galway, Ireland, 1913
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Galway, Ireland, 1913
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Traditional Irish knitwear, An Spidéal, Galway, Ireland 1 May 1913 (Lefti), 14 year old girl from the Claddagh wearing traditional Claddagh dress. Galway, Ireland, 26th May 1913 (Right)
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Two fishermen and a boy, An Spidéal, Galway, Ireland, 31 May 1913
Image credits: Albert Kahn
Little Peon with a Bombay Pumalo, India, 1914
Image credits: Helen Messinger Murdoch
Egypt, Bishaften Children, 1910
Image credits: Helen Messinger Murdoch
Portrait, Bombay, c. 1914
Image credits: Helen Messinger Murdoch
Oranges in Uhlený trh (“Coal Market Square”), Prague, 1910
Image credits: Karel Šmirous
Italian Riviera, 1910
Image credits: Karel Šmirous
Probably Kaysersberg, 1913
Image credits: Karel Šmirous
Girl with gun, c. 1910.
Image credits: Charles Corbet
Young lady with a fan, c. 1910
Image credits: Charles Corbet
woman and girl by a brook, 1910
Image credits: Charles Corbet
Lady in park avenue, c. 1910
Image credits: Charles Corbet
lady and fruit dish, 1920
Image credits: Paul Sano
Stagecoaches at ghent, 1912
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
concarneau-voiliers au port, 1911
Image credits: Julesjules-Gervais Courtellemont
greenhouse with purple flowers, 1910
Image credits: Charles Corbet
charlie chaplin, 1918
Image credits: Charles C. Zoller
Woman Smoking Opium, 1915
Image credits: Léon Busy
family portrait at roannay, belgium, 1913
Image credits: Georges Gilon
still life with roses and decorative platter photographed, 1917
Image credits: Ernest Van Zuylen
the grenata street army, 1915
Image credits: Léon Gimpel
Symphony in white, 1912
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Van Besten painting in his garden, 1912
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Washing and bleaching, 1912
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Winter at Brugge unloading barge, c. 1912
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Winter scene in park, c. 1912
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Young girl amidst marguerites, c. 1912
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Two girls picking cornflowers, c. 1912
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Ancient times, c. 1912
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Children at play, c. 1912
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Civic and military garb, c. 1911
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Dahlias, c. 1913
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Garden view, c. 1914
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Farmers on cart, c. 1912
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Groupe antique composition, c. 1912
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Innocence, c. 1912
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Windmill at twilight, c.1913
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Still life with brown fruit, c.1913
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Shepherd’s boy, c.1913
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Mime in love, c.1912
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Mime in love, c.1912
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Pink and green wigs, c. 1912
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
Musing (Mrs. A. Van Besten), c. 1910
Image credits: Alfonse Van Besten
