WW1 Colour Photos

French soldiers receiving a haircut, c.1916

Colour photography was first invented in around 1903, and by 1907 the Lumiere brothers had were able to produce reliable colour images that were almost every bit as good as their monochrome equivalents on the first ever colour film. Unbelievably, a small number of colour photos were subsequently shot on this new film. They are - to my knowledge - entirely French in origin.

There is a remarkable archive assembled at http://www.worldwaronecolorphotos.com/ where the author has painstakingly collected together colour images from the First World War. None of them are "action" photos (indeed, few WW1 photos are) but they are striking images of the conflict as I had never seen it before. One of the most poignant images I found in the archive is this:

Senegalese and other French African Colonial Soldiers

That these men should have been photographed at all is quite remarkable - I find it even more so to see such an image in colour.

Captured: America in Color, 1939 - 1943

The Denver Post has just added a stunning collection of images from 1939 - 1943, showing (largely) American rural life at the time. The gallery, titled Captured: America in Color, 1939 - 1943, shows just what was possible with colour film long before it became widely used in a consumer format. None of the images would rank as "famous", but they are evocative - particularly those of black Americans living alongside whites. Compare the work in the cotton fields to the 4th of July celebrations, especially, and the "Juke" joint.