All branches of the arts, on varying levels, continually seek to recreate
reality or capture a moment in time. In the realm of photography, one way of
doing so was to recreate the colors of everyday life in photographs. Early
photographs were hand colored or tinted; but many worked to create a process that could mimic how the human eye saw color and use
it in photography. One such figure was James Clerk Maxwell, a Scottish
physicist who was also interested in light and color perception. While he is most
known for the establishment of his electromagnetic light theory, in the realm
of photography, Maxwell is significant for his development of the color
separation method and creating, along with the photographer Thomas Sutton, what
is considered to be the first color photograph.
Maxwell’s concept of color perception was that the human eye distinguishes
between quality and intensity of color, which allows for the distinction of
objects and between other objects the eye sees. He discovered that of the colors
in the spectrum- red, green, and blue were the most sensitive to human
eyes. Using those colors, he surmised that further colors could be created. With
this theory, Maxwell was the first to think of the ability to reproduce color
by means of filtering light through colored light filters, the combination of
which would recreate color as the human eye saw it. This color separation
process, or trichromatic process, would prove to be the foundation for color
photography.
Though Maxwell had this theory in 1855, in was not until 1861 that he would
be able to physically test his theory. That year, Maxwell and photographer
Thomas Sutton (inventor of the single lens reflex camera) took three separate
exposures of a tartan ribbon. The three black and white (halftone)
photographic slides were taken, each through a different colored filter: red,
blue, and green. When the slides were each projected through the corresponding
color filtered lens, they focus and combined into a single full colored image.
Thus, Maxwell was able to prove that colors could be reproduced with
photographic three-color negatives made through transparencies on glass slides.
 |
| Red, green, and blue slides to demonstrate color photography. |
On May 17, 1861, Maxwell presented his concept in a lecture before the
Royal Institution in London entitled “On the Theory of Three Primary Colours.”[1] The lecture was focused on physics, not
photography. In addition to the lecture, Maxwell and Sutton recreated the
experiment by projecting the slides together and created a single
full-colored image of the tartan ribbon. Maxwell summarized his experiment
thus:
Three photographs of a coloured
ribbon taken through three coloured solutions, respectively, were introduced
into the lantern, giving images representing the red, the green, and the blue
parts separately, as they would be seen by Young's three sets of nerves,
respectively. When these were superposed, a coloured image was seen…a truly
coloured image of the ribbon.[2]
While this experiment used diapositives, Maxwell also
explained that this concept could also be applied to paper, creating color
equations for colored paper as well. This visually dramatic event established
the foundation for color photography and all later developments in the
field.  |
| Diagram illustrating the process of using the colored filters to create a single image. |
 |
| The first color photograph- also referred to as the "Tartan Ribbon." |
In closing, Maxwell’s work with color theory led to the first demonstration
of a color separation method and the presentation of the first color
photograph. From his work stem later developments in color photography,
which is still significant in the age of digital photography. For example, digital cameras
today use the color separation method to capture light.[3]Today, Maxwell is remembered for various achievements, in physics and
photography. Looking back, it can be said that Maxwell created the photography
version of a “Wizard of Oz” moment- taking us from black and white into the
world of color.
Bibliography / Additional Links
Barribeau,
Tim. Popular Photography, “Color Photography Turns 150 Years Old Today.” May
17, 2011. http://www.popphoto.com/news/2011/05/150-years-ago-first-color-photograph-was-taken.
Eder,
J.M. George Eastman House, “Chapter XCIV: Three-Color Photography (Notes on
Photographs).” 2009. http://notesonphotographs.org/index.php?title=Eder,_J.M._Chapter_XCIV:_Three-Color_Photography.
James
Clerk Maxwell Foundation, "The Impact of James Clerk Maxwell's Work."
2012. http://www.clerkmaxwellfoundation.org/html/maxwell-s_impact_.html
[1] James Clerk Maxwell, “On
the Theory of Three Primary Colours” (lecture, Royal Institution, London, May
17, 1861). http://notesonphotographs.org/index.php?title=Maxwell,_J._Clerk._%22On_the_Theory_of_Three_Primary_Colours.%22
[2] Ibid.
[3]Coomes, Phil. “Pioneering Colour Photography.” BBC News, sec. Magazine, May 16, 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/13411083
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