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| 'Tartan Ribbon' - James Clerk Maxwell The worlds first permanent colour photograph |
In 1861 the first permanent colour photograph was taken
by physicist James Clerk Maxwell. He
used what is known as the 'colour separation' method, shooting three separate
black and white photos using three filters: red, green, and blue. He then
projected the three images registered with their corresponding filters
overlapping them to create a color image.
Although this development came prior to the invention
of Monochrome roll film, colour in photography was not truly embraced until
1936 when Kodak released Kodachrome; the
first multi layered (Integral Tripack) colour film. Prior to this, methods such
as ‘colour separation’ and ‘Joly Screen process’ were common for those wishing
to take colour photographs, however, Kodachrome
made colour photography affordable and available for the public.
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| Multiple colour film variations |
Even by the 1950’s the expense of colour film as compared to
black-and-white and the difficulty of using it with indoor lighting combined to
delay its adoption by amateurs. Black-and-white snapshots were still the norm
and even by 1960, colour was much more common but still tended to be reserved
for travel photos and special occasions.
In 1963 Polaroid introduced instant colour film and like their contemporary
instant black-and-white film, their first colour product was a negative-positive
peel-apart process. The negative could not be re-used and was discarded.
Interestingly, a problem arose when carelessly discarded, chemical-laden
Polaroid negatives, began to accumulate, especially heavily at the prettiest,
most photograph-worthy locations. Polaroid founder Edwin Land was horrified and
promptly developed the later SX-70 system, which produced no separate negative
to discard.
In the 1970’s, colour film prices were coming down, sensitivity had
been improved and in most families colour had become the norm for snapshots.
Black-and-white film continued to be used by some photographers who preferred
it for aesthetic reasons but by 1980, black-and-white film in most formats as
well as commercial developing and printing services, had nearly disappeared.
All forms of photography
have evolved from monochrome photography. Colour film is black and white film
with three layers of emulsion. Each layer has a coloured coupler that makes the
resulting black metallic silver deposits in the negative respond to colours in
the visible spectrum; red, green and blue. Digital photography employs a
silicon sensor that records focused light falling onto it in much the same way
that light rays reaching the film expose that portion of the film. So all
photography has evolved from the original techniques created to record light
rays onto silver halides.
