Color photography
Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell proposed the three-color method in 1855.
Color photography uses media that capture and reproduce colors, typically by recording three channels of information dominated by red, green, and blue. The three-color method, which underlies most color processes, was first suggested in an 1855 paper by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell. The first color photograph was produced by Thomas Sutton for a Maxwell lecture in 1861.
Quick Facts
- Proposer of three-color method
- James Clerk Maxwell
Facts from the source article.
History
Attempts at color photography began in the 1840s, with early experiments seeking a substance that would take on the color of light falling on it. Some results, obtained by projecting a solar spectrum onto a sensitive surface, hinted at eventual success, but camera images required exposures lasting hours or days. The three-color method, based on the Young-Helmholtz theory of human color vision, was first suggested in an 1855 paper by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell. This theory holds that the human eye uses three types of cone cells, each sensitive to red, green, or blue regions of the spectrum. Although the named colors are arbitrary divisions of the continuous visible spectrum and the theory is not entirely accurate, it sufficiently matches human sensation that mixing these three colors creates the illusion of intermediate wavelengths.
Artists' perspectives
When color photography became available to the public in the late 1930s, photographers held differing opinions. Some embraced it, while others doubted its relevance to the art of photography. American photographer Paul Outerbridge began a monthly column on color photography for U.S. Camera Magazine around 1930 and became known for high-quality color illustrations made with a complex tri-color carbro process; he published his book Photographing in Color in 1940. Ferenc Berko immediately recognized color photography's potential as a new way to frame the world and experiment with subject and emotion. John Hedgecoe, who preferred color, published The Art of Color Photography, explaining the importance of understanding relationships between colors and the psychological and emotional power color can have on viewers. William Eggleston is widely credited with increasing recognition of color photography as a legitimate artistic medium. Jan Groover used color extensively for her work during the 1970s. Despite these followers, black-and-white remained more popular and respected when color first appeared. Henri Cartier-Bresson told Eggleston at a party, "William, color is bullshit." Harold Baquet, known for documenting New Orleans civil rights, preferred black-and-white film, stating that color can distract from the essential subject and that light, line, and form alone can explore depth.
Preservation
Color photographic materials are inherently unstable and impermanent. Chromogenic color photographs consist of yellow, magenta, and cyan organic dyes that fade at different rates, and deterioration is unavoidable even in dark storage with archival enclosures. Proper care can delay fading, color shifting, and discoloration. Unsuitable conditions include high temperature and high relative humidity, air pollution and dirt, light exposure, biological threats such as fungi and insects, residual processing chemicals, base and emulsion deterioration, handling and usage, and improper storage and enclosures. Three signs of aging are dark fading, which is unavoidable and caused by temperature and humidity, with cyan dyes typically fading faster and making the image appear too red; light fading from exposure to light, with magenta dyes typically fading quickest; and highlight staining, which is yellowing of borders and highlights on older color photographic papers. Colder storage extends the life of color photographs; frost-free cold storage below freezing is highly effective but costly and requires special training. Cool storage above freezing, between 10 and 15 C with 30–40% relative humidity and above the dew point, is more common. Dark storage in light-tight enclosures is advised, and when materials are exposed to light, sources should be UV-filtered with minimum intensity; storage areas should have 200–400 lux.
General references
Coe, Brian (1978). Colour Photography: the first hundred years 1840–1940. Ash & Grant. Coote, Jack (1993). The Illustrated History of Colour Photography. Fountain Press Ltd. Preservation of Photographs. Kodak publication, no. F-30. (1979). Rochester, NY: Eastman Kodak Co. Paine, C. (1996). Standards in the Museum Care of Photographic Collections. London, UK: Museums & Galleries Commission. Keefe, L.E.; & Inch, D. (1990). The Life of a Photograph: Archival processing, matting, framing, storage. Boston, MA: Focal Press. Lavédrine, B.; Gandolfo, J.-P.; Monod, S. (2003). A Guide to the Preventive Conservation of Photograph Collections. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Conservation Institute. Photograph Preservation and the Research Library. (1991). Mountain View, CA: The Research Libraries Group. Penichon, Sylvie (2013). Twentieth-Century Color Photographs: Identification and Care. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Publications. Reilly, J.M.; et al. (1998). Storage Guide for Color Photographic Materials. Albany, NY: University of the State of New York. Ritzenthaler, M.L.; Vogt-O'Connor, D. (2006). Photographs: Archival care and management. Chicago, IL: Society of American Archivists. Sipley, Louis Walton. (1951). A Half Century of Color, New York, NY: Macmillan. Caring for Photographs: Display, storage, restoration. Life library of photography. (1982). Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books. Weinstein, R.A.; Booth, L. (1977). Collection, Use, and Care of Historical Photographs. Nashville, TN: American Association for State and Local History. Wilhelm, H.G.; Brower, C. (1993). The Permanence and Care of Color Photographs: Traditional and digital color prints, color negatives, slides, and motion pictures. Grinnell, IA: Preservation Pub. Co. Wythe, D. (2004). Museum Archives: An introduction. Chicago, IL: Society of American Archivists.
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