The Passion of Former Days: colour photographs

Showing posts with label colour photographs. Show all posts

24 February, 2015

Road Tripping 1960s Norway

A delightful set of photo postcards made in Norway in the 1960s. Wonderfully, nearly all the cards in the set include a cheerful red car (of various makes), merrily making its way through the Norwegian countryside. The postcards thus evoke a series of personal snapshots of one person's road-trip (better snapshots than anyone could actually take!). Of course, in a sense, they are: the car(s) belonged to the photographer.

Since the photos' captions are only in Norwegian, which I don't speak, I've pasted them in full, so as not to mix up place names and descriptions.

Nasjonalbiblioteket / National Library of Norway

Lillehammer. Source

Nasjonalbiblioteket / National Library of Norway

Tvindefoss. Ruten Voss - Stalheim - Gudvangen. Source

Nasjonalbiblioteket / National Library of Norway

Vik i Sogn. I bakgrunnen Hella og Fjærlandsfjord. Source

New Zealand in Autochrome

Beautiful colour photographs from New Zealand, 1913-1915. These autochromes, taken by avid amateur photogrpaher Robert Walrond, mostly depict Auckland and area. The Public Domain Review has an excellent, detailed article discussing autochromes in New Zealand from the same collection, with a particular focus on those by Walrond. The article includes more still lives and portraits; I've chosen outdoor views.

The autochromes come from the collections of Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand, in Wellington, which is terrific museum all round.

Te Papa (A.018181) Purchased 1999 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds.

Albert Park, 1915, Auckland, by Robert Walrond. Source

Te Papa (A.018203) Purchased 1999 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds.

Mount Hobson from Mount Eden, 1913, Auckland, by Robert Walrond. Source

Te Papa (A.018191) Purchased 1999 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds.

Tree fern, 1915, Auckland, by Robert Walrond. Source

Petra in Early Colour

Early colour photographs of Petra, the Jordanian city carved from rock.

These photographs are early Agfacolour transparencies, essentially a film-based version of autochromes made in the early to mid-1930s. They were taken by the photographic division of the American Colony, a utopian Christian sect in late 19th and early 20th century Jerusalem, the archive of which was donated to the Library of Congress in the 1970s.

Most are not in very good condition, but as usual I find this only adds to their fascination.

Library of Congress

Al Khazneh. Source

Library of Congress

Source

Library of Congress

Source

1950s Banff, in Colour

About this time last year I posted photographs of Banff, in the Canadian Rockies, from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Now, Banff is one of my favourite places in the whole world, so here's another lot-- this time from the 1950s, and in full colour!

Note: I previously identified these photographs as shot on Kodachrome (albeit Kodachrome in unusually bad condition) but it's since been pointed out to me they can't be--not just the fading and bits of colour shift, very rare in Kodachrome, but even the square format in this time period. They're in fact non-Kodachrome film in unusually good condition. Thanks to those who pointed that out!

National Film Board of Canada. Photothèque / Library and Archives Canad

A man photographs two women in a canoe on the Bow River, 1952. Source

National Film Board of Canada. Photothèque / Library and Archives Canada

Women clambering over rocks at Lake Minnewanka [mis-identified in the LAC caption as "Morraine Lake"--thanks to a commenter for pointing this out!], 1951. Source

National Film Board of Canada. Photothèque / Library and Archives Canada

Art students painting hoodoos, 1957. Source

World War Two in (Canadian) Colour

A selection of colour photographs made during and just after World War Two by Canadian Army photographers. The majority were taken on Kodachrome film--significant, as Kodachrome is by far the most stable colour film, resulting in colours that are just as vibrant today as in 1943 (none of these have been enhanced in the digitization process-- I have seen several from this collection in person!).

The photographs range from staged to very staged, but the view they offer of the kinds of pictures the Canadian government wanted is fascinating in itself. Colour film was still quite rare, as well, and it is clear that most of the shots were chosen to maximize its impact.

Canada. Department of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada

Canadian soldiers and Dutch civilians in a field of wild cabbage. Source

Canada. Department of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada

Airmen prepare for a flying mission in Italy. Source

Canada. Department of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada

Albertan tanksman play a (carefully arranged) card game, France. Source

Autochromes of Nature

The autochrome-- the first commercially available colour process (1907-1932)-- and nature met wonderfully. The autochrome required long exposure times, 30 seconds to a minute, so a naturally static view was helpful. Moreover, if you now have a way to take pictures in colour, well, what better to use that on than the capture of bright flowers and the fresh green of leaves? Nature scenes are among the most popular of amateur autochromes at all levels, and it's easy to see why.

George Eastman House

Roses in a vase, ca. 1915. Source

George Eastman House

Scene with water and trees, ca. 1910. Source

George Eastman House

The Matterhorn, Switzerland, ca. 1915. Source

A Pet Lion-- in Colour!

This blog always likes to feature strange pets* and old colour photographs, so the combination of both just had to have a post, even if we've seen a pet lion before.

These photographs were shot by photographer Michael Rougier for LIFE-- no date is given but the style is pretty clearly 60s or maybe early 70s.

Michael Rougier, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

Michael Rougier, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

Michael Rougier, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

Colour Photographs of Paris, 1939

Just in time for Bastille Day, fantastic colour photographs of Paris taken in July 1939, not even two months before the outbreak of World War Two. By William Vandivert, for LIFE.

You'll notice the colours have survived better in some than others... without seeing what the actual objects are it's impossible to know, but I suspect some were taken on Kodachrome film (the ones with better colour--Kodachrome lasts better than any other colour film) and the others on a different film (though still a Kodak one-- in just one of the images, you can see text on the right labelling it as Kodak!).

William Vandivert, LIFE © Time Inc.

Advertising posters on the Rue de Courcelles. Source

William Vandivert, LIFE © Time Inc.

Rooftops of the city. Source

William Vandivert, LIFE © Time Inc.

A street in Montmarte. Source

The Colours of Nighttime New York

The bright lights of New York City, as seen by LIFE photographer Andreas Feininger. Though they didn't come with a date, the movie marquees in some of the shots reveal it's 1945. I haven't determined if any of these ran in LIFE, but Feininger is known for the photographs of New York he took for the magazine (many of these, for instance).

Andreas Feininger, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

Andreas Feininger, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

Andreas Feininger, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

More Life in Early Colour

I am off to George Eastman House today to look at early colour photographs, so it seemed like a good time to have another set of them here. These are autochromes, the first commercially viable means of photographing colour. Soon I hope to go back and add more information about processes and photographers to these posts, but for now, an autochrome is a colour positive on a glass slide, commerically produced from 1907-1932. And they're lovely.

If you missed the earlier autochrome posts: The Art of Early Colour, Life in Early Colour, and World War One in Colour Part One and Two.

Mostly from the George Eastman House, though a few from the Bibliotheque de Toulouse, and one each from the Swedish National Heritage Board, and the State Library of New South Wales. See source links for specifics.

State Library of New South Wales

Sisters, c. 1909, Killara, Australia. Source

George Eastman House

A nurse and child, c. 1907-1932, by Charles C. Zoller. Source

George Eastman House

Nurses and "Uncle Sam" at a WWI support parade, US, c. 1917, by Charles C. Zoller. Source

Snapshots of 1937

Though colour photography was around since the 1900s and 10s, it wasn't until the late 1930s that it became available in a practical film format This collection from the National Archives of Norway represents some of the earliest amateur colour snapshots, taken by Norwegian Thomas Neumann in 1937. We all have heaps of these kinds of snapshots from the 60s and 70s.... here's the start of all that, in the 30s!

Mostly taken in Norway and a couple in Berlin.

National Archives of Norway

Source

National Archives of Norway

Source

National Archives of Norway

Source

When You're a Jet

Photographs of West Side Story, today-- but not film stills, rather a set taken by photographer Gjon Mili at filming of the movie, during the opening and rumble scenes. So we have different views, different compositions, and some different shots entirely, all by a master photographer.

From the LIFE archives, 1960 (the tag is 40s/50s because the original musical premièred in 1957).

Riff leads the Jets in a dance down a New York street. Source

Source

The Sharks (with Jets close behind). Source

Travel by Eurail

The adventures of young student backpackers with Eurail passes, 1970. (many thanks to commenters who've helped identify some of the unnamed locations!)

Photographs from by Carlo Bavagnoli, from the LIFE archives.

Carlo Bavagnoli, LIFE © Time Inc.

American Eurail backpackers hang out at Amsterdam station, contemplating their next destination. Source

Waiting to get on a Norwegian train. Source

Passport check at the Swiss border. Source

World War One in (Australian) Colour

We've had colour photographs of World War One in the blog before (here and here)-- French autochromes from the Western Front. But, the French weren't the only ones documenting the war in colour. Australian photographer Frank Hurley (whose colour photographs of Shackleton's Antarctic expedition have also been featured in this blog) took photographs of the Australian forces in the Middle East and at the Western Front with the Paget Process of colour photography. Fascinating stuff.

From the collections of the Australian War Memorial.

Frank Hurley, Australian War Memorial

An Australian Light Horseman collecting anemone flowers in Palestine, c. 1918. Source

Frank Hurley, Australian War Memorial

A derelict British tank at the Somme, 1917 (for the full story of the tank, follow the link). Source

Frank Hurley, Australian War Memorial

Four Australian soldiers with a machine gun, Palestine, 1917. Source

South Pacific

Life at an American base on Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands, 1944. Just like the musical...

The American base on the atholl. Source

Servicemen chatting. Source

Ground crew working on a bomber. Source

Life in Early Colour

It's amazing how easy it is to picture the past in black and white. Even when we know of course it was as colourful as today, it's still striking to come across the shots that demonstrate this. Somehow colour makes it feel so much nearer. World War One in colour has a different effect than World War One in black and white.

We've seen artistically arranged early colour photographs; today, everyday life from c.1900s to 1920s in full colour. From the collections of George Eastman House.