Our vintage inspiration for this week are the girls of Autochrome Lumière photographs. You’ve probably seen these beautiful photographs floating around the internet, noted with a caption that says, “autochrome”. What does that mean? Just in case you didn’t know what Autochrome Lumière is, it simply is a type of mosaic photographic process, made on a glass plate, that existed before subtractive color film (which is now commonly used). It was made by a couple french men, the Lumière Brothers, in 1903.
There is something so special about autochrome photographs. They have such interesting color and a slight haze. They look like paintings, or maybe even dreams.
They definitely make images seem other worldly, and because it was produced and used for such a short time, many of them are from the early 1900s. I feel like it’s because of these autochrome images, that I have such a romanticized view of this era. Of ladies in (what we now we consider) antique clothing just peacefully existing in their world.
This above photograph is probably one of my favorite I have come across. Have you ever heard of Albert Kahn’s Archives of the Planet? In 1909, Kahn sent out photographers to photograph the people of 50 different countries. The project took place over the following 20 years. Many autochrome photographs now come from that collection.
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