Have a look at the image below and see if you can spot what’s unusual about this image. Answer is underneath:
The answer is that it’s in colour. Why? I hear you ask. Because it’s 100 years old and it’s Russian. In 1909 a remarkable project was initiated by Russian photographer Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky. His mission was to record – in full and vibrant color – the vast and diverse Russian Empire. Here, with his story, is a selection of his amazing century old full color pictures. Many of the pictures look as if they could have been taken yesterday, with only the costumes worn by the people captured in their moment of time betraying the age of the work.
here is another of his photos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Prokudin-Gorskii-12.jpg
also this one is from america and is stunning for the time
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PalmercarpenterA.jpg
o very nice – so much better than those ghastly ‘colourised’ ones
Reminds me of the photos of Albert Kahn. I think that they used potato starch to achieve the different colours.
That’s so… eerie. The past only exists in black and white! My poor noodle can’t cope!
I was looking at that photo for ages trying to see what was wrong!
Amazing they managed to do that back then.
Incredible…that man was also a good painter then with a good grasp of colours and lightning…Lovely set…
Absolutely fascinating method of producing the pictures if you read the article – so simple yet so clever at the same time. Really inspired!
Wow, those are amazing! Love it. Never realised just how detached we can feel when looking at a black and white photo, like the past is another planet or imaginary, (which I suppose in a way it is, but that’s for another time…so to speak :-p ).
Seeing it in colour like that makes it all so much more ‘real’. Hard to explain when I’m having a half asleep day but think you’ll all know what I mean when you look at them.
x
People can not see it at the pictures ofcourse. It could have been taken yesterday ofcourse (costumes and such, movies do it all the time .. in full colour they serve us the past ..). But the true point is that most people will think that coloured photography was not possibe then yet. The first known one is from 1861. Why it took so long I wonder .. money? The firs dutch coloured pictures I saw were from way later and with very different colours.. from normal people I mean. Did they prefer B&W? As daily life showed these colours already. B&W is considered more artistic quite often.
That’s the most interesting part of all of this as far as I’m concerned.
Or was it that people did not want to see to their normal self on a picture. The painters normally did not paint them they way they were but made them look nicer (royalties, upper class, people with money).
This picture is the same painters in those days have painted way more often.
Did it take that much time to travel over the world? This new technique. Not impossible ofcourse. But the lack of interest was, however weird that may sound, or might be another reason. Techniques was not appreciated that much yet back then apparently. Plainly there for plain luxerous life styles. Painters were more simple. Or was there also a boycot of this technique?
Money it will be I guess. As many expensive techniques are not that widely spread yet among all people on this planet. Most will never benefit from techniques which actually were intended to do good to those (medical techniques e.g.). It’s still those with money who benefits the most from all new things. And show off. Or stay alive.
A good picture, but yes it is surprising. What with a color process being developed thirty years previously and Russians not reading any scientific or artistic journals over all the time, it is truly remarkable. Such an added bonus that it is in focus.
Life magazine recently released some photos taken by Hitler’s personal photographer, each of them in brilliant color. They were chilling photos to look at, and not one of them was about the war itself, but of Hitler and various members of the Nazi party. The pics look like they would be only a few days old.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Mikhailovich_Prokudin-Gorskii
wow, i thought it was a trick and i guessed nothing. i knew it was Russia but i figured there were still places like that in the present day. thats amazing.
Okay, New Advent…What is ‘wrong’ with these photos? We give up. Do you know something we don’t with the information? Is this some sort of trick or joke? If they are legit, why caption the title “What is ‘wrong’ with these photos? Please respond or change the intro title to something else, like “Amazing century old photos found…IN COLOR!” for example.
If nothing is wrong, thank you for a very interesting story!
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