Photochroms

Quick Selection List

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 Introduction

Photochroms, the first reproducible format for colorized pictures (rather than handpainting each card) range from appearing authentically photographic to being very artistic in nature, a blend of picture and painting.

Below are some photochroms I have restored. All Photochroms date from 1890-1900, all but one being published by the Detroit Publishing Company, and were no doubt very popular at the time.

Note: The sources for these photochroms are from fairly-high-resolution 8-bit scans, which limits the restoration that can be done. To see the difference, see the section on postcards, (click here) which are from my private collection, scanned at 1600dpi @ 16-bit per-channel, and, comparitavely, are in worse shape. But, they came out nicer because of the resolution difference.




Gallery Samples

Click thumbnails for larger (original and restored) images
The cathedral, palace, and church, Amsterdam, Holland
ca. 1890-1900
Detroit Publishing Company (c. 1905)
Print no. "6104".

Notes: This photochrom is a great example of how colorized pictures can look quite authentic and give a sense of how it was to live in those times. With the horse-drawn carriages in the foreground and a crowd of people in the square, this restored photochrom came out quite nicely.

Chapel Place, Bétharram, Pyrenees, France
ca. 1890-1900
Detroit Publishing Company (c. 1905)
Print no. "9521".

Notes: This is a good example of bringing back features through the restoration. In the original, the clouds in the sky can barely be seen, and the sky itself is a monotone pale yellow.

Agra, Taj Mahal
[between 1890 and 1900]
Zürich : Photoglob Zürich

The beach and Kursaal, Scheveningen, Holland
ca. 1890-1900
Detroit Publishing Company (c. 1905)
Print no. "6147".


St. Wladimir's Monument, Kiev, Russia (i.e. Ukraine)
ca. 1890-1900
Detroit Publishing Company (c. 1905)
Print no. "8971".


Monument of Catherine II, St. Petersburg, Russia
ca. 1890-1900
Detroit Publishing Company (c. 1905)
Print no. "8805".


The Saussure Monument of Camonix, Chamonix Valley, France
ca. 1890-1900
Detroit Publishing Company (c. 1905)
Print no. "1374".

Notes: This is another example of a Photochrom that looks almost photographic. It has a very artistic quality to it, but the light touch makes it seem like it could have orignially been a simple color photograph