These beautiful antique photos were made with potatoes
June 27, 2022 1:06 PM Subscribe
In 1903 the Lumière brothers developed the autochrome process, the first viable single-exposure color photography technique, with potatoes.
The photographic pioneers finely ground potato starches and dyed them with red, green and blue pigments, and then mixed and evenly spread the three colored powders over a film plate. The tiny colored starch grains acted as both a color filter during the exposure and to re-color the black-and-white film after it was developed. Technology Connections has a wonderful video explaining the process and Jon Hilty's blog posts provide recipes and technique tips if you want to try it yourself.
This is, of course, unrelated to the modern usage of "recorded with a potato" to mean low-quality video.
The photographic pioneers finely ground potato starches and dyed them with red, green and blue pigments, and then mixed and evenly spread the three colored powders over a film plate. The tiny colored starch grains acted as both a color filter during the exposure and to re-color the black-and-white film after it was developed. Technology Connections has a wonderful video explaining the process and Jon Hilty's blog posts provide recipes and technique tips if you want to try it yourself.
This is, of course, unrelated to the modern usage of "recorded with a potato" to mean low-quality video.
May I take this opportunity to link Stuart Humphryes - BabelColour (Twitter) - who digitally restores and enhances historic autochromes to marvellous, luminous effect.
posted by Morfil Ffyrnig at 1:35 PM on June 27, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Morfil Ffyrnig at 1:35 PM on June 27, 2022 [5 favorites]
Technology Connections is one of the best Youtube Channels out there. They could talk about coffee percolators (and they do!) and make it interesting. I particularly liked their dissertation on using cheap dishwasher powder.
posted by alex_skazat at 1:36 PM on June 27, 2022
posted by alex_skazat at 1:36 PM on June 27, 2022
Autochrome-ome-ome
It's made with potato starches
It shows off your largesses
Makes all the world look not as grey
There's a blurry girl with some citrus
An angry kid who wants to hit us
Please don't take my diascope away
posted by credulous at 2:58 PM on June 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
It's made with potato starches
It shows off your largesses
Makes all the world look not as grey
There's a blurry girl with some citrus
An angry kid who wants to hit us
Please don't take my diascope away
posted by credulous at 2:58 PM on June 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
...with potatoes.
Jesus mother fucking Christ.
posted by The Tensor at 3:39 PM on June 27, 2022 [4 favorites]
Jesus mother fucking Christ.
posted by The Tensor at 3:39 PM on June 27, 2022 [4 favorites]
I have been obsessed with autochromes for years. It just kills me that someone could think up "potato starch for color photography" and make it work.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 4:45 PM on June 27, 2022
posted by kitten kaboodle at 4:45 PM on June 27, 2022
I've also been obsessed about autochromes for a while; even did a presentation on them for a History of Photography class a few years ago. Lartigue's are probably my favorite.
posted by octothorpe at 4:57 PM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by octothorpe at 4:57 PM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
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posted by johnabbe at 1:24 PM on June 27, 2022 [3 favorites]