{"id":34179,"date":"2026-05-18T01:03:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T05:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/?p=34179"},"modified":"2026-05-16T22:29:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T02:29:29","slug":"the-autochrome-and-the-diascope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/the-autochrome-and-the-diascope\/","title":{"rendered":"the autochrome and the diascope"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

a cased colour portrait<\/p><\/div>\n

Toronto<\/strong>. The early colour processes were usually additive and as such incredibly slow. In to the mid last century the alternative was to take a good B&W portrait and colour it with special dyes.<\/p>\n

In issue 27-4, Editor Bob Lansdale discusses the early colour processes and efforts to view the result. Bob begins his tale, “At the turn of the century (1900) a number of colour\u00a0processes were being promoted, causing the public to expect\u00a0true colour portraits soon to be provided by their local studio.<\/p>\n

“Colour illustrations appearing in magazines stirred the desires\u00a0but the photo processes were too complicated to become readily available at a reasonable price. The Autochrome transparency process invented in 1904 by the Lumi\u00e8re Brothers\u00a0took until 1907 to work out manufacturing problems.<\/p>\n

“But\u00a0portrait photographers faced the challenge of how to market\u00a0the easily processed colour plate. The public was used to the\u00a0traditional paper print in a folder or frame while coloured\u00a0prints from such a transparency were prohibitive.<\/p>\n

“I wondered how a commercial portrait studio might put\u00a0this early colour system to viable use. In the April 1908 issue\u00a0of The St. Louis and Canadian Photographer, <\/i>it is reported\u00a0that \u201csome excellent samples of color photography were\u00a0exhibited, the work of Mr. J. Kennedy\u201d of Toronto.<\/p>\n

“The\u00a0Autochrome process was later demonstrated by portrait photographer John Kennedy when the Lumi\u00e8re representative\u00a0failed to appear at the 1908 convention of the Photographic\u00a0Association of Canada. No clues were given as to how the finished picture was to be presented \u2013 just its novelty.” …<\/p>\n

Members enjoyed all of editor Lansdale’s research in the issue 27-4 pdf file on the free member-only DVD\/Thumb Drive. Join or renew by following ‘Membership’ above and at right. Email questions to member@phsc.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our 2026 Events are moving along smartly. Next is the Spring Fair<\/a> on May 24th. Join us and find more interesting items for your collection – perhaps even an Autochrome or a Diascope!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Toronto. The early colour processes were usually additive and as such incredibly slow. In to the mid last century the alternative was to take a good B&W portrait and colour it with special dyes. In issue 27-4, Editor Bob Lansdale … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1944],"tags":[500,34,286,105,400,14,30,279,348],"class_list":["post-34179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","tag-accessories","tag-cameras","tag-darkroom","tag-digital","tag-fair","tag-film","tag-images","tag-lenses","tag-studio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34179"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34185,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34179\/revisions\/34185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}