Color Photos
from a Pre-war Publication
a Chasseurs Alpin Unit
It is only recently that there has been a (renewed) interest in color photographs taken during the world wars. And while it is difficult enough to procure color shots of WW II, imagine how much more difficult is it to find color material dating from the Great War. And yet by 1914 it was already possible for amateur photographers to purchase color negative film. While not as inexpensive as black and white photography, it was not prohibitively expensive either. The main drawback to making color photographs aside from the somewhat more costly price, was that exposure times were considerably longer and hence action shots or street scenes were difficult to make.
Another matter was that of hand-colored photographs, many of which were made by craftsmen specializing in the trade and of which it must be said that all were not always recognizable as such.
Nor were mass color printing tecniques sophisticated nor cheap enough to allow for the printing of color photographs in the newsmedia in substantial numbers. Magazine editors seemed to prefer reserving color printing for artistically produced illustrations, watercolors or paintings. Seldom does one find a color photograph in Great War period books or magazines, whether they be true color photos or hand-colored fascimiles.
The collection of scans in this section comes from a serialized magazine that published a number of originally made color photographs of all arms of the French military. The scenes are invariably theatrically posed and somewhat uninspiring to modern viewers, but are interesting nonetheless.
see also : The Battle of the Marne in Orignal Color Photos / The Battle of Verdun in Original Color Photos
from 'Album Militaire'
from French Postal Calendars