PHOTOGRAPHS
Ziel, F. R.; Lumiére, Auguste
U.S. (active 1890s); France (1862 - 1954)
Untitled (portrait of a young girl)
1912
Autochrome
7 x 5 x 1/8 in. (17.8 x 12.7 x .3 cm) overall
Joseph and Elaine Monsen Photography Collection
FA 2001.123

The autochrome was the first viable color photography process and flourished from 1907 to the 1930s. Produced directly onto a glass plate, the autochrome was created by viewing a black-and-white image through colored starch granules. While autochromes in general are not a rarity, the fact that no negative is produced in the process makes this untitled portrait of a young girl a unique object.

Patented by brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière in 1903, the autochrome is a “coloured, transparent image on glass, similar to a slide. The colour came from a layer of translucent granules of potato starch, each dyed red, blue or green to create a coloured mosaic on the glass plate. During exposure, light traveled through these granules to reach a light sensitive layer below; red granules would only allow red light to travel through, and so on. The light sensitive layer was thus selectively exposed by colour. When the autochrome was held up to the light, the coloured granules were viewed in combination with the black and white image behind to create a colour photograph.” Taken from Victoria and Albert Museum, “Autochrome,” http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/photography/processframe.php?processid=pr005). -- Label copy for 150 Works of Art, October 1, 2005 to February 26, 2006.