Stephen Green over at VodkaPundit has a post Photoblogging – Since 1914 about a collection of color photos from “The World’s War” as they called it back then. (WWI) From the response, many people were surprised they had color photos back then.
If that surprised people, this book might really shock them. It is a (stunning) collection of stereoscopic (3D) pictures from the CIVIL WAR. I was surprised when I first bought a copy, to see many images I had seen in other Civil War texts were really only half of a 3D image. If you’ve read other Civil War texts, you’ll probably recognize some of the images.
Just having photos from the Civil War gives you a closer connection to its history than say the revolution, but the 3D images really give a new view on the war. (no pun intended) I looked for a similar collection on the net, knowing I could not really find it. — You need a 3D viewer like the one that comes with the book.
We all have a tendency to believe that 2 years before we were born they were writing on clay tablets, but some technology has been around a while.
I remember seeing a photo of a greenhouse. Instead of clear glass panes, the person had used glass photo plates from the civil war. I believe some were even Matthew Brady’s.
– I had to chuckle at this one since my kid keeps being amazed when he see’s some of the older movies on cable from the 40’s and 50’s and talks about how great the color and clearity was. Of course hes astonished that color anything actually existed before 1990, when he was born, let alone with such quality……
Damnit…..why the hell is all my vintage porn in black and white if they had this then?
What about e-books???
Cindy
Though it’s mentioned in Stephen’s comments, readers here should be sure to check out the Prokudin-Gorskii collection. They’re not as old as the Civil War ones, but it describes the process that the photographer used.
There are thousands of images if you search the collection. The Library of Congress keeps adding color ones all the time.
I’m stunned. I’m a photographer- and I didn’t even know these photos existed. WOW.