James Maxwell’s three-colour process wasn’t exactly considered a practical method. Besides being early film pioneers, the Lumière brothers, Auguste and Louis, had a keen interest in developing colour photography. Having experimenting with it for several years, they presented their findings in 1904. The first public demonstration of their method took place in 1907 at L‘Illustration, a French newspaper. While complex to make, the brothers’ Autochrome process was fairly easy to use. Furthermore, one didn’t need to procure new apparatus to make use of it. These factors helped popularise it amongst amateur photographers at the time. Soon after, favourable news on the process began to pour in. Eager photographers were frustrated to find that demand far outstretched availability.
