Photography (1852-2010)
The next significant milestone in photography was marked by the advent of the first commercial application of colour photography, known as the Lumière Autochrome, thanks to the French pioneers, Louis and Auguste Lumière. They developed a patented colour photography technique that involved a glass plate coated on both sides with microscopic particles of dyed potato starch, which served as colour filters. This innovative form of photography gained immense popularity for capturing landscapes and photojournalistic images, and the Lumière brothers are also recognized as the first filmmakers in history. The Maldon Archive sheds light on the early history of Maldon. The Maldon Archive sheds light on the early history of Maldon.
The Lumière brothers were born in Besançon, France, to Charles-Antoine Lumière (1840–1913) and Jeanne Joséphine Costille Lumière, who married in 1861 and relocated to Besançon, where they established a small photographic portrait studio that witnessed the births of Auguste and Louis. In 1870, the family moved to Lyon, where their son Edouard and three daughters were born. Both Auguste and Louis attended La Martinière, the largest technical school in Lyon. Their father, Charles-Antoine, initiated a small factory for producing photographic plates; however, despite the efforts of Louis and a younger sister working from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., the business was on the brink of bankruptcy. By 1882, it seemed they would fail, but upon Auguste's return from military service, the brothers engineered the machinery needed to automate their father's plate production and created a highly successful new photo plate, 'etiquettes bleue'. By 1884, the factory had grown to employ a dozen workers.
Photography (1852-2010) continued
Upon their father's retirement in 1892, the brothers embarked on the creation of moving pictures. They secured patents for several important processes that contributed to the development of their film camera, particularly the film perforations (initially introduced by Emile Reynaud) which facilitated the movement of film through both the camera and projector.
The original cinématographe was patented by Léon Guillaume Bouly on 12 February 1892. The brothers filed for their own patent on 13 February 1895. The first footage captured with their device was recorded on 19 March 1895, depicting workers exiting the Lumière factory.
The Lumière brothers regarded film as a mere novelty and subsequently exited the film industry in 1905. They then focused on creating the first practical photographic color process, known as the Lumière Autochrome. The brothers are interred in a family tomb located in the New Guillotière Cemetery in Lyon.
Louis passed away on 6 June 1948, while Auguste died on 10 April 1954. They rest together in their family tomb in the New Guillotière Cemetery in Lyon.
Back to home page.
© Lloyd Blackburn 2002 - 2025. All rights reserved.
The images on this website including text are protected by copyright.
They are not to be copied, reproduced, republished, posted, broadcast, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered or stored in or introduced into any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical now known or hereinafter invented.