12:50pm Saturday 2nd May 2009
A collection of historic photographic plates that signalled the dawn of colour photography go on display at Exbury Gardens this month.
The plates – known as autochromes – were taken in the early years of the twentieth century by banker Lionel de Rothschild, who bought the Exbury estate 90 years ago.
Lionel moved to his new Hampshire home with his young family in 1919, bringing with him 700 autochromes, each carefully wrapped in newspaper to preserve the freshness of the colours.
Before moving to Exbury – where he planned and planted the world-famous gardens – Lionel was an enthusiastic and expert amateur photographer.
His autochromes – the largest collection in the country – lay forgotten in a dark cupboard in Exbury House until they were discovered by his grandson, also called Lionel.
Received with acclaim in the photographic world, the plates now form an important part of the Rothschild Archive and have lost none of their colour of freshness.
“It’s hard to explain the quality of the colour and imagine the astonishment when the autochromes were first displayed,”
says Victor Gray, a former director of the Rothschild Archive and the co-ordinator of the autochrome exhibition.
“They show the Edwardian world in a new light, a soft and subtle colour that makes you feel that’s how the world really is.”
First demonstrated in 1907, the autochrome process was the first colour photographic method to be commercially viable, explains Victor. And, for the first time, colour photography was within the remit of an amateur – as long as he could afford it.
Between 1908-1912 Lionel experimented with autochromes, building a collection of images taken in Britain, Europe and North Africa.
His collection includes pictures of family and friends and images of gardens which were to become the enthusiasm that occupied him more than any other later in his life.
His few images of animals and birds at London Zoo are the earliest known colour photographs taken there.
Lionel worked outside – the light was better for the colours – and produced a huge range of photographs encompassing formal and informal composition, but always with an eye to the quality of the colour.
However, autochromes eventually had their day. Despite the huge initial enthusiasm when the French Lumière brothers announced their invention, the plates could not be copied or printed and had to be examined through a viewer.
As a result Lionel changed his style of photography, as did many amateurs, but had the forethought to ensure his autochromes were carefully wrapped and stored.
Visitors to the Exbury exhibition can view a selection of the autochromes in light boxes and see projections of many not on display.
“The plates have been cleaned and conserved,” says Victor, “and, as soon as they are lit, they release the image of a world remote to us in time and style, yet dressed in the same colours as the world around us today.”
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