The Library of Congress is running an “exhibit of color photographs from the 1900s”:http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/ reconstructed from three-color glass plates taken by a Russian experimental photographer. The “process”:http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/making.html is fascinating, but the photos themselves are truly extraordinary. My favorite is “View of the Nilova Monastery”, which looks like more a fairytale castle photo from a 1960s Disney adventure film than pre-revolution Russia.
[Thanks to Patrick for pointing this out to me.]
How stupid am I? My brain is going, “But…but…surely the world wasn’t in COLOR back then!”
These are beautiful. I had seen the image on the main page before somewhere.