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Late 19th Century
Despite the relatively slow
take-up of colour photography, the subject was discussed in the
photographic journals from the nineteenth century onwards.
The Edinburgh photographic
dealer, A H Baird wrote an article, Photography in Colour, in his
journal Photographic Chat in which he criticised the press for
their ill-informed articles on colour photography.
He described three methods of
colour photography that were then available.
Lippmann's
Method - This required a special photographic plate to be backed
with mercury, so that light falling on it would be reflected to produce
'stationery waves' from which a coloured image could be produced. A
H Baird considered Lippmann's method to be very creditable and ingenious,
but it was not a very practical method to use.
Joly's
Method - Several versions of this method were available, all based
on a stippling approach, where the image was made up of individual dots of
the three primary colours. A H Baird found that the results from all
these method were inferior, and had 'a certain woolliness'.
F E Ives'
Method - This involved printing images in each of the three colours
one above another to create a colour transparency or, as had been
demonstrated by the Lumiere Company at the RPS Exhibition that had just
closed in London, a colour print.
This method was based on
theories put forward by Professor Clarke Maxwell in 1861!
A H Baird considered Ives'
method to be practical and said it was one that 'stands pre-eminently
first as regards the beauty and exact truth to nature of the obtained by
it'.
He reported that 'The Lumiere
N A Company are now supplying through photographic dealers, and at the
very moderate price of 25s, a set of materials comprising screens, dyes,
sensitiser, tissues, and so on, permitting any owner of a camera to put
this most interesting and useful process to an actual test'.
[Photographic Chat:
November 1902, pp. 8-10] |
