Submitted by
Users who Dugg This
Jovan Maric
817 Followers
SleepingZombie
332 Followers
Phil Perspective
9358 Followers
Scenic Anemia
2644 Followers
sunsacredten
1116 Followers
Johny Petrushka
596 Followers
Brad Cossey
42 Followers
Carly Wilson
3023 Followers
Closed AccountAug 15, 2010
Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky took three separate pictures (using red, green, and blue filters) in black and white. The photos were reconstructed with the appropriate color light. Technically it is a color photograph, but it's really a combination of three negatives.
craftyguyAug 16, 2010
Wait, what's this doing on digg? It's 99 years too late!
/s
edthehobo2Aug 16, 2010
how do i math
Closed AccountAug 16, 2010
Why have I not heard of this guy? He should be more famous than Andy Warhol.
brandonj60Aug 16, 2010
The bum sitting outside my local Starbucks should be more famous than Andy Warhol.
piieerrrreeAug 16, 2010
He's been featured on Digg a few times over the past couple of years.
And to be fair about Andy Warhol, have you ever tried painting a straight line? Or parallel straight lines? s**t is f**king hard. even if his thematic might leave to desire, the artisanry is there.
bryceman111Aug 16, 2010
You're not by chance thinking of Mondrian, are you?
jacoboAug 16, 2010
My photoshop should be more famous than Andy Warhol
jakashAug 16, 2010
Thank you for posting those better links i23, this popjolly f**king blogspam doesn't even host the image itself; its just leeching off the wiki hosted picture!
anothersoldierAug 16, 2010
The world was a magical place 100 years ago. Now it's just heaps of cement and glass. These pictures look like they came out of an MMORPG.
6502samAug 16, 2010
Your links have photos that actually look like they were taken in 1915.
The photo related to this story is so technically perfect: color, sharpness and the depth of field is too deep for those early lenses.
The photo for this article is NOT from 1911.
Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
captmonkeyAug 16, 2010
Have you even looked at the others? Some of them are a little blurry, but some are so clear and have so much color depth that they look like they could have just as easily been taken this afternoon instead of a century ago.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Prokudin-Gorskii-09-edit2.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Prokudin-Gorskii-25.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Prokudin-Gorskii-21.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Prokudin-Gorskii-08.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Trinity_Monastery_in_Tiumen_%28Prokudin-Gorskii%29.png
6502samAug 16, 2010
Yes, I did look at the others.
If you look at the others, all of them have some sort of color shift, relatively shallow depth of field, slight imperfections that look like it was taken by a camera from the early 1900s.
The article picture and this one (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Prokudin-Gorskii-09-edit2.jpg) look too damn good and I'm skeptical....
OR they were post-processed (Photoshopped) for web viewing.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
apcfreakAug 16, 2010
@CaptMonkey
Thank you for those links. I don't know what hit me, but viewing that second picture that you linked took my breath away. Inspirational.
dteleAug 16, 2010
The grain may be the size of golfballs, but the negative plate would be 100 times the size of modern CCD sensors.
Try doing THAT with your iphone!
FTA: "amazes me how people back then look so much like people now. It feels like there should be more of a difference."
He'd be about the same age as my grandfather and his older brothers. Not exactly an eternity in human time.
shinzenAug 16, 2010
Your grandfather and older brothers are 140 years old?
Sheesh. Tell me what they are eating.
anothersoldierAug 16, 2010
kibbles n bits
captmonkeyAug 16, 2010
And here's a website set up by the Library of Congress that has thousands of his photos and explains how he took them and displayed them in color via a special projector and how they wound up making these digital recreations.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/
scarrgo714Aug 16, 2010
You're awesome! I've been looking for this site since I lost the bookmark about a year ago, many thanks!
Closed AccountAug 16, 2010
You can even order very hi-res version of the images for about $20 or so. I've been meaning do get the one of the man on the dock and have it printed on a large-format printer.
diggduggjoeAug 16, 2010
Similar idea to Technicolor in films.
dempyrosAug 16, 2010
I was just going to say this. It's still a color photo - the fact that it wasn't produced on color film stock doesn't change that.
diggduggjoeAug 17, 2010
Technicolor movies kick ass compared to early color films. They even hold up very good over time due to the b/w film being more stable.
kingatrockAug 16, 2010
It's like looking into someones memories of those times. So vivid and vibrant.
whitegripesAug 16, 2010
Little House on the Прерия.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Prokudin-Gorskii-08.jpg
peestandingupAug 16, 2010
Damn, his self-portrait looks like it was taken next to blood lake. That's f**kin gangsta:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Prokudin-Gorskii-12.jpg
norse77Aug 16, 2010
You'd think for such an old picture that it would load faster. sheesh.
Closed AccountAug 16, 2010
There's another great set of pages at the library of congress about him and his photos:
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/making.html
dukeonkledAug 16, 2010
http://www.flickr.com/photos/prokudin-gorsky/3280195849/ This should've been the submission.
xmod3Aug 16, 2010
Guy was a genius.
Humanity needs more people like him.
anothersoldierAug 16, 2010
and myself
/trying to reach -100 diggs
mahdicAug 15, 2010
That's really impressive, sadly it looks like he's really buzzed!
icravespamAug 16, 2010
Sadly? Good for him, I say.
muzza001Aug 16, 2010
opium is a hell of a drug
d0msyAug 16, 2010
yea baby
earthacisAug 16, 2010
He looks like Shay Carl.
mandraqueAug 16, 2010
He looks higher than a light-post. 5000x internets for whoever gets that reference.
xsanctomAug 24, 2010
Sadly!?
moonman13Aug 15, 2010
What's with the sword? That fat ass ain't killing anything.
anothersoldierAug 16, 2010
LOL I digg I digg.
nesttysanttaAug 15, 2010
ha ha , it's colored in photoshop or something ?
it's strange to see such a good quality for year 1911 :D
yuanhaoAug 16, 2010
kids these days...
HalcyonightsAug 16, 2010
Read the top comment dude ...
aronwyrthAug 16, 2010
What makes you think it can read?
silentspyderAug 15, 2010
Not sure why people should look different back then. We've looked the same for thousands of years.
goweigusAug 16, 2010
I don't know about thousands, especially considering lots of races haven't been mixing around much except for the last 500 years
megadeth222Aug 16, 2010
I don't know about you guys but I don't usually see fat bearded middle eastern samurais in my daily routine...
Closed AccountAug 16, 2010
i feel sorry for you
atomic811Aug 16, 2010
that is because you don't live in new york city.
fungowskiAug 16, 2010
I know what you're thinking. The blue sari looks mega cool but his undercarriage probably smelled like a coffin.
flangepieceAug 16, 2010
Ordinarily I'd just digg a humorous comment like this up, but I felt a duty to actually mention that I was digging it up so that you'd know you just added a ray of sunshine to my s**tsack of a day, thanks :)
winginAug 16, 2010
I know what you mean ... but I think I might also know what he meant. When I see photos of my relatives taken back then, they're black and white and oddly posed and even though I knew some of them - they seem removed and different from my world now. These colour photos look like they were taken recently and that makes them seem part of my world.
meatball402Aug 16, 2010
I think that after looking at so many black and white images of the time, people were seen in those photos' differently. From the way the camera worked, or how the face was imprinted on the film, it just 'looked' different, I think.
chewittAug 16, 2010
People were monochromatic back then!
hediggmeAug 16, 2010
This pic was taken before Papa Smurf earned his red pants and still had dark hair.
kageryuAug 16, 2010
The server died like it was made in 1911.
chuckdeesAug 16, 2010
Everyone knows that the world was in black and white back in the olden days. Look at the beginning of The Wizard of Oz.
stevieraveonAug 16, 2010
Weren't these pictures just on the front page recently?
particleman420Aug 16, 2010
i didnt see it.
crossmrAug 16, 2010
The world doesn't revolve around you and what you saw.
particleman420Aug 16, 2010
you replied to the wrong comment
diggamyteAug 16, 2010
No, this is just one pic of some drunk dude with a sword that looks crazy high rez for 1911. Here's what you're talking about I think (and was really cool)...
http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2010/07/26/captured-america-in-color-from-1939-1943/2363/
hippykillerAug 16, 2010
These pic's have in fact been on the front page... It has been over a year though...
lemurAug 16, 2010
Older than the Internet
anothersoldierAug 16, 2010
Older than dust
dlan4327Aug 16, 2010
I came for this comment. I left satisfied. Cheers.
mattluizAug 16, 2010
That's what she said.
anothersoldierAug 16, 2010
Mine didn't suffice? I see how it is.
javadelsonAug 16, 2010
That's what she said.
philbertAug 16, 2010
And your point in telling us this was?
diggsmckenzieAug 16, 2010
*Woosh*
philbertAug 16, 2010
I got it, I'm just sick of the stupid joke.
atarioAug 16, 2010
Older than radio
lemurAug 16, 2010
Older than the Soviet Union
cubswillwinAug 16, 2010
Older than your mom.
anothersoldierAug 16, 2010
Oh come on... the mom joke got a couple diggs and my dust joke got... left in the dust? Sometimes you just can't win.
lemurAug 16, 2010
How do you know my mom isn't like 100 years old
jeezoflipAug 16, 2010
LITERALLY LOL!>
redassassin7Aug 16, 2010
I see what you did there
pandabearshenyuAug 16, 2010
mirror?
uv0001Aug 16, 2010
http://rorr.im
thatsnomoon66Aug 16, 2010
I love seeing color photographs from the early 1900's, it makes everything seem so much more real and human.
scy1192Aug 16, 2010
here's an even larger one: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Prokudin-Gorskii-19-v2.png a whopping 14.5MB and PNG
Closed AccountAug 16, 2010
That scanner they used magically adds pixels out of nowhere. Awesome.
ohitsdomAug 16, 2010
One-uped!
heliumflashAug 16, 2010
"It amazes me how people back then look so much like people now. It feels like there should be more of a difference."
I don't know about this guy, but where I live people don't tend to carry around swords and dress like that.
oriondrAug 16, 2010
Are you kidding? I thought I was looking in a mirror
heliumflashAug 16, 2010
I'm high and that made me laugh really hard. Dugg.
purepremiumpulpAug 16, 2010
I lived in pittsburgh for 23 years. People do dress that way where I'm from.
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.457663,-80.007697&spn=0.00039,0.001032&t=h&z=21&layer=c&cbll=40.45764,-80.007597&panoid=X-xp0ypEKM-xAaC2ivbpTw&cbp=12,339.19,,0,16.17
heavypettingzooAug 16, 2010
haha they still do man... guess you live in non-ethnically diverse palce
heliumflashAug 16, 2010
I live in Northern VA. I guess my diversity isn't as diverse as your diversity.
arcookeAug 16, 2010
http://rorr.im
thejavAug 16, 2010
If you're going to hotlink wikimedia, at least provide a link to the full resolution:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Prokudin-Gorskii-19.jpg
Here's some more info about how it was shot, from wired's blog in 2007:
http://www.wired.com/table_of_malcontents/2007/01/prokudingorskis/
arcookeAug 16, 2010
Thanks for the mirror.
Even the wikimedia link was loading slow for me, so I remirrored on imgur just in case:
http://i.imgur.com/H1hqL.jpg
sindexAug 16, 2010
[commented so I can come back easily later]
atarioAug 16, 2010
That's not hotlinking. It's simple linking.
thejavAug 16, 2010
Actually, they updated the page with an imgur hotlink, and added a link to the source.
immuneAug 16, 2010
loading slow
rorr.im
snareguy17Aug 16, 2010
Look at basically any comment above you containing a link.
Closed AccountAug 16, 2010
The owner of this website is blocking rorr.im using a robots.txt file.
dick.
spookyttwsAug 16, 2010
Hey, if he doesn't want our pageviews and the extra hundred bucks from Adsense, that's fine. There's a lot of other things on Di...Hey look a website with kitties doing human things!
romantictireAug 16, 2010
I would like a link to that webpage, oh wait dogs dancing!!!
lethargicmonkeyAug 16, 2010
our wonderful internet ADHD could have provided him with a fat paycheck. too bad for him.
dtfinchAug 16, 2010
O.O
User-agent: rorrimBot
Disallow: /
Closed AccountAug 16, 2010
+1's
ripersnifleAug 16, 2010
Dugg for spelling colour with a U.
khastAug 16, 2010
That's how everyone EXCEPT the US spells it. No, we aren't the only English speaking country in the world. Get over it.
rwhittak3Aug 16, 2010
Wait.. the US isn't everyone?
dirtyfriesAug 16, 2010
Ah, the monthly posting of this to the front page of Digg.
therealricoAug 16, 2010
never ever seen this once, and I have been a pretty consistent digger since 2006.
mikethechimpAug 16, 2010
I've seen this in a bunch of places outside of Digg, too.
not4spam2Aug 16, 2010
You spelled "color" wrong, you limey.
liquidramAug 16, 2010
Wrong.
grumpyrainAug 16, 2010
Wroung
Closed AccountAug 16, 2010
I know, back then most people weren't that fat.
drhuntzzzAug 16, 2010
Very true. The only the rich were fat.
fungowskiAug 16, 2010
all the fat guys from freak shows must have been rolling in it then
iamzedAug 16, 2010
The Empire That Was Russia
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/
kornstalxAug 16, 2010
I'll just leave this here.
http://www.worldwaronecolorphotos.com/
lethargicmonkeyAug 16, 2010
thank you for that. haven't had a history nerdgasm in a while.
deepeyeAug 16, 2010
That's Bukharan's ruler.
dlan4327Aug 16, 2010
He's right. Those really are some fantastic shoes.
califragAug 16, 2010
I found this Gizmodo article really interesting too
http://gizmodo.com/5477475/samurai-gardens-and-crowded-streets-photographing-1880s-japan-in-technicolor
"He produced sepia monochrome prints in his studio that were then hand-colored by local artists."
They are really beautiful and interesting and give a great look at how life was back then.
Gives new meaning to 'color photographs'!
jeezoflipAug 16, 2010
f**k jizzmodo.
lemonproxAug 16, 2010
The quality of the image is incredible
Closed AccountAug 16, 2010
yet 2010 and you still see crappy jpegs. +1
lemonproxAug 17, 2010
yeah, back in 1911 there was no such thing as compression
boozedrinkerAug 16, 2010
"It amazes me how people back then look so much like people now. It feels like there should be more of a difference."
Well, when you are talking about a primitive society/culture like these types of people generally live in, you shouldn't be surprised. They have generally looked the same since biblical times. It just shows one world's reluctance to cling on to ridiculous beliefs and times even though the world around them is changing drastically.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
Closed AccountAug 16, 2010
There are so many things wrong with this comment that I don't even know where to begin.
After some debate I have decided NOT to begin. It'd be hard to put a dent in that much ignorance with a single Digg comment reply.
superkduperAug 16, 2010
They should change the name of this site to DUPE
naasukAug 16, 2010
It was taken right before this video was shot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LjAi4p--C4
sarcasteakAug 16, 2010
its funny because its racist /s
swampfootAug 16, 2010
I just found a new ringtone!
drwarrior12Aug 16, 2010
This account has been closed by the user
drwarrior12Aug 16, 2010
This account has been closed by the user
rhumu17Aug 16, 2010
my guess would be that you didn't explain what you were posting...
I'll admit, it looks a lot like spam.
shutupflandersAug 16, 2010
That must have been back when color was spelled with a U.
biosfear01Aug 16, 2010
In Australia we spell it Colour. imo it looks more right than Color.
I think Europe spells it Colour as well.
boomchockalockaAug 16, 2010
I'm pretty sure he spells it kuller.
theschebenAug 16, 2010
So there WAS color back then!
oxidaneAug 16, 2010
Ya, but not long before that color didn't exist. Light just didn't move in those frequencies.
Closed AccountAug 16, 2010
Stupid Kodak.
blackwing602Aug 16, 2010
Just Google 'Russian color' and you'll find it
netneutralityAug 16, 2010
Fixed link so that it removes Google's tracking keys and works around their utter incompetence that they can't make links that work without JavaScript enabled:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Russian+color
blackwing602Aug 16, 2010
cool
yuanhaoAug 16, 2010
Some of Prokudin-Gorsky's "color" photographs look better than those taken with modern cell phones: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Prokudin-Gorskii-08.jpg/693px-Prokudin-Gorskii-08.jpg
altanarAug 16, 2010
And? There are several Abraham Lincoln photographs that look better than modern cell phones. Is this really so shocking?
mop06Aug 16, 2010
is that Chumlee?
alexweiskerAug 16, 2010
All I see is a digital photo. Seriously though I wonder what the actual prints of these look like, it's never quite the same over the net.
mxm111Aug 16, 2010
There is no *actual* prints. Back then the image was reconstructed by projecting 3 images using 3 projectors, each of which would use separate color filter.
alexweiskerAug 19, 2010
I couldn't have known that from the article.
wondertwinsAug 16, 2010
You guys should check out the book "The Dawn of the Color Photograph." This billionaire name Albert Kahn goes on a worldwide photograph conquest to record every country with a revolutionary camera that can capture photographs in color. Although it is not as early as the beginning of the 20th century, Kahn's journey begins during World War I and I have this book and it is so fascinating. This billionaire was also friends of physicist JJ Thomson and sculptor Auguste Rodin who created "The Thinker."
http://www.amazon.com/Dawn-Color-Photograph-Albert-Archives/dp/0691139075
youngcebAug 16, 2010
first 1940, later 1911, this is going far away..
megadeth222Aug 16, 2010
Dude I found this picture from 1824:
http://www.thinkinghousewife.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/amish.jpg
youngcebAug 17, 2010
get out!!!
bigdoglj52Aug 16, 2010
http://ronster.wordpress.com/
The post titled "Kodachrome and Exams" gets into color photography, including this picture. It concludes that the first color photograph was taken in 1861and was this, http://7candles.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/windowslivewriterkodachrome-2717tartan-ribbon7.jpg .
anneonimousAug 16, 2010
All these old color photographs are popping up lately. Did someone figure out the time machine recently?
guitmusic11Aug 16, 2010
I'm confused. Why isn't he sepia toned? I thought the world was sepia back then.
zetaspartan2552Aug 16, 2010
They caught the change on video actually. The Wizard of Oz. That dang tornado must have been the changer.
Closed AccountAug 16, 2010
Global Warming
urmyhartbstoprAug 16, 2010
... That dude have tiny feet for his size. Pretty slick outfit, silk blue, and saber.
reelgirlAug 16, 2010
I have been seeing a lot of these photos lately, very cool
goddess1019Aug 16, 2010
These are really cool, but I have seen them on here 5 times in the last year. It doesn't have the same wow factor anymore
diggaddictiveAug 16, 2010
Aww man:
http://www.reoiv.com/images/random/dadbandwandcolour.jpg
firebat9erAug 16, 2010
That is a ballin' outfit.
hallo2uAug 16, 2010
this has been here before...
however color pictures from 1911 are so awesome that i will digg it again
qazwsAug 16, 2010
It looks like he drake too much beer.
Closed AccountAug 16, 2010
More older than i suppose to be. but a great one