June 2007
Early American Autochromes
In the summer of 1907, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, and other giants of American and European photography met in the small town of Tutzing, on Lake Starnberg. They had been drawn from around the world to hear about a thrilling new innovation in their field: color. Daguerre, Niépce and others had struggled to make the breakthrough, but it was the French Lumière brothers—pioneers of modern cinema—who first figured out the logistics. They patented their “autochrome” process in 1904, and the market was flooded with colored postcards, pictures, and illustrated books. Stieglitz and Steichen were blown away by the breakthrough. Before the end of the year, they hosted the first exhibition of colored photographs at the Little Galleries in New York City. A century after that decisive moment, Berlin’s Galerie Bilderwelt has sent a representative selection of “Early American Autochromes” to the Amerika Haus, where they are on display until July 13.
