Early 20th Century Color Photos

Part of looking at old photograph and feeling they're old, is that they are back and white, and sometimes a bit blurry. As soon as you see color photographies, they seem so much more modern, even if they were taken the same year as the ones in black and white. Vanessa - a friend of mine - sent me a link to a page full of color photos from early 20th century Paris. When looking through them I got the feeling this time wasn't so long ago, and that less than we think has actually changed...

The photos were taken using Autochrome Lumière technology. This method was invented in 1903 by Auguste and Louis Lumière (the Lumière Brothers).

Picture source.

Loie Fuller

Born Marie Louise Fuller (January 15, 1862 - January 1, 1928) in Illinois, Loie Fuller was to become a pioneer of both modern dance, and lighting techniques.

Loie Fuller, 1900. Source.

She started acting as a child, and later choreographed and performed dances in burlesque, vaudeville, and circus shows. Fuller created her own way of moving freely, and often combined her choreography with flowing silk costumes, illuminated by multi-colored lighting of her own design. She became famous in America, but later moved to Paris, where she often performed at the Folies Bergère.

Her experiments to produce stage lighting, such as chemical compounds to make color-gel and the use of chemical salts for luminescent lighting and garments made her a holder of many new patents. It also gained her the respect and friendship of many French artists and scientists, such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Auguste Rodin, Stéphane Mallarmé, and Marie Curie. She died in Paris of pneumonia in 1928, aged 65.

I first noticed Loie Fuller by seeing some photos of her dancing, surrounded by flowy fabric. Here are a few:

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Here is also a video, made by pioneering film-makers Auguste and Louis Lumière, of Fuller's "Serpentine Dance". According to Wikipedia it's not Loie herself dancing in the video though...