[Trending] 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 ...

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.


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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

Source: BoredPanda

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