Color 1906 SF earthquake aftermath pics

Pretty fascinating, relatively clear and the color is good considering the age. Amazing..I thought the world was black and white back then (j/k)...didn't realize color photography went back that far.

Wow...Pretty cool....

They strike me as seeming very modern. Yes, fascinating is a word I'd use.

Quite the nugget from the past.

Fascinating!

Ah subtractive element colored photography. See those Red, Green, and Cyan on the edges? They were basically the color elements used on the background of a black and white film to form colors. Assuming a white light falls on the film, the tri-colors basically are subtracted to get the true color.

If I remember correctly SECP was first tried somewhere in the 1870's by none other than Polaroid.

Brilliant piece. I miss film photography.

I remember seeing these pictures a while ago.

It's amazing how good these look considering how it was done.

I wasn't sure why there are two of each picture, slightly different..I assume that is the 'stereo' aspect? Not familiar w/ this type of photography.

I remember seeing these pictures a while ago.

It's amazing how good these look considering how it was done.

Those are great...what a difference clear color photos make compared to grainy B&W...

Ah subtractive element colored photography. See those Red, Green, and Cyan on the edges? They were basically the color elements used on the background of a black and white film to form colors. Assuming a white light falls on the film, the tri-colors basically are subtracted to get the true color.

If I remember correctly SECP was first tried somewhere in the 1870's by none other than Polaroid.

Interesting! I had no idea the 1st color photography experiments streched that far back; always though of it as a 20th century thing.

Edited March 10, 201115 yr by ZL-1

i only knew by ww1 color photography was becoming almost commercial... hence the color pics of some of the war.

I remember seeing these pictures a while ago.

It's amazing how good these look considering how it was done.

Those are so crisp and clear. If I didn't know any better, I'd think they were taken in the 60's, rather than 1908-10. Makes you wonder why my parents' old Kodachromes from the 70's and 80's look so crappy in comparison.

Edited March 11, 201115 yr by Turbojett

There were a number of competing technologies coming out in the early 1900's that often involved special cameras that would split the beam of incoming light and project it on to different color exposures, when combined would produce a color image. This kind of looks like one of the two strip processes.