Rare 100-year-old photos showing World War I in color
During the First World War, more than 1 million French soldiers were killed. From 1914 to 1918, when this tragedy covered the world, military photographers documented life on the fronts. Then, for the first time, color photographs of the war were taken, reflecting this terrible event and the battles that the real heroes fought, overcoming the pain and nightmare of the inhuman forces.
In 1903, the French brothers Auguste and Louis Lumiere patented an early technique for color photography - autochrom. And despite the fact that it was the first commercially successful process of photographing in color, it was only in 1935 that Kodak developed the Kodachrome color film. Only then did color photography become commonplace.
And even many years later, in 1983, only 50% of American newspapers used color photographs in their print.
Given all this, it is difficult to overestimate the significance and uniqueness of our photographs taken once by the French army.
The authorship of most of the photos belongs to the army photographer Paul Castelno. Priceless pictures show dramatic and vivid moments - from life in trenches to portraits of front-line nurses and doctors. These photos can not leave indifferent, because they are a piercing reminder of men and women who sacrificed themselves in this difficult period of history.