116 Of The Oldest Color Photos Showing What The World Looked Like 100 Years Ago

When you think of old photos or historical pictures, you naturally think in terms of black and white, but as you can see from these stunning vintage photos from the turn of the 20th century, color pictures have been around for a lot longer than you think.

Before 1907, if you wanted a color photograph, you (well, a professional colorist) basically had to color it using different dyes and pigments. Still, two French brothers called Auguste and Louis Lumière revolutionized all that with a game-changing process that they called the Autochrome Lumière. Using dyed grains of potato starch and light-sensitive emulsion, they could produce color in vintage photography without the need for additional colorization. Despite being difficult to manufacture and somewhat expensive, the process was very popular among amateur photographers. As a result, one of the world's first books of color photography was published using the Autochrome Lumière technique.

The brothers revolutionized the world of color photography until Kodak took things to a whole new level with the invention of Kodachrome film in 1935, a lighter and more convenient alternative that quickly made the Autochrome Lumière obsolete (although its popularity continued in France up until the 1950s). Kodachrome was also eventually overtaken by the rise of digital photography (Kodak stopped manufacturing Kodachrome in 2009), which is now by far the world's most popular way to take pictures. Still, modern advances in photographic technology wouldn't have been possible without the hard work of early pioneers like Auguste and Louis Lumière. Scroll down for a collection of stunning historical photos in color using their groundbreaking technique.

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Christina In Red, 1913

Final score:

260points

116 Of The Oldest Color Photos Showing What The World Looked Like 100 Years Ago

Christina In Red, 1913

Flower Street Vendor, Paris, 1914

Heinz And Eva On The Hillside, 1925

Sisters Sitting In A Garden Tying Roses Together, 1911

Moulin Rouge, Paris, 1914

Daydreams, 1909

Musing (Mrs. A. Van Besten), C. 1910

The Eiffel Tower, Paris, 1914

A Girl Holds A Doll Next To Soldiers' Equipment In Reims, France, 1917

The Grenata Street Army, 1915

Among The First Coloured Pictures Ever Taken By Louis Lumière, 1907

Two Girls On A Balcony, 1908

Young Girl Amidst Marguerites, C. 1912

Air Balloons, Paris, 1914

Charlie Chaplin, 1918

Autochrome Of Mark Twain, 1908

Christina In Red, 1913

Outdoor Market, Paris, 1914

Woman Smoking Opium, 1915

Two Girls In Oriental Costume, 1908

Van Besten Painting In His Garden, 1912

Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mostar, 1913

Eva And Heinz On The Shore Of Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, C. 1927

Girl In A Garden With Hollyhocks, 1908

Sweden, Near Gagnef (Mother And Daughter In Traditional Clothes), 1910

Else Reading By The Nile, 1920

Woman And Girl By A Brook, 1910

Family Portrait At Roannay, Belgium, 1913

The Neptune Fountain, Cheltenham, 1910

An Autochrome Of Two Sisters, 1908

Apan (Young Samurai), 1912

Autochrome Of Else Paneth On A Camel, 1913

Japan, Kyoto, 1912

Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sarajevo, 1912

Mother Of Seven Making Fringes For Knitted Shawls, Galway, Ireland, 29 May 1913

Louis Lumière's Daughter And Her Dolls, 1913

Lanchester 38hp Tourer, 1913

Porte Saint Denis, Paris, 1914

Joan In Red Riding Hood Cape With Basket, 1907

Autochrome Of A Young Girl, 1910

Girl With A Parasol Sitting On A Bench, 1908

Giant Oranges,paris, 1914

Egypt, Giza, 1913

Galway, Ireland 1 May 1913

An Autochrome Of Etheldreda Janet Laing Daughter In A Garden, Holding A Brightly Coloured Bunch Of Pink Flowers, 1908

Mongolia, Near Ulaanbaatar (Buddhist Lama), 1913

Traditional Irish Knitwear, An Spidéal, Galway, Ireland 1 May 1913 (Left), 14 Year Old Girl From The Claddagh Wearing Traditional Claddagh Dress. Galway, Ireland, 26th May 1913 (Right)

Lunch Of A French Soldier In Front Of A Damaged Library, 1st April 1917

Metro, Paris, 1914

Margate Beach, Blue Girl , 1915

The Family At The Lake, 1925

Palace Of Horticulture, Pan American Exposition, 1915

Highland Castle, Scotland, 1920

Mrs. Warburg, 1915

St. Mark's Cathedral, Venice, 1925

Market Stalls Outside An Egyptian Ruin, 1913

Children By The Breakwater, 1908

Galway, Ireland, 1913

India, Bombay (Sadus), 1913

Autochrome Of A Young Girl, 1910

Moulin Rouge, Paris, 1914

Flower Street Vendor, Paris, 1914

Peggy In The Garden, 1909

The Younger Girl Stands Beside Her Sister Holding A Pink Parasol. The Older Girl Rests Her Bonnet On Her Lap, 1908

Stagecoaches At Ghent, 1912

Staithes Harbor, 1915

Two Fishermen And A Boy, An Spidéal, Galway, Ireland, 31 May 1913

At The Entrance To The Pyramid Of Menkare, 1913

A Rusty Buoy, 1908

Sphinx And Camel, 1913

One Legged Man, Paris, 1914

Lumiere Brothers. The Game Of Billiards, 1907

Galway, Ireland, 1913

Shepherd’s Boy, C. 1913

The Kiosk Of Philae, 1913

Oranges In Uhlený Trh (“coal Market Square”), Prague, 1910

Eva Poses After A Successful Hunt In Scotland, C. 1920

Senegalese Soldiers Serving In The French Army As Infantrymen Are Resting In A Room With Guns And Equipment Next To Them, 16th June 1917

Man With Book Sitting In Chair, 1915