Jacques-Henri Lartigue: The Proof of Color

In 1912 Jacques-Henri Lartigue began taking photographs in a radically different way by using a surprising anachronistic technique: stereoscopic autochrome on glass plates. During the short time he produced these images – from 1912 to 1927 – Lartigue made an important and beautiful series of double-view autochromes, from which the 90 remaining pieces are presented here for the first time in their entirety and at full scale.

Lartigue’s process relied on meticulous technical preparation and a long, precise exposure time for his staged compositions. The end result is not a print but a double stereoscopic view that he projected onto a screen. Lartigue filled each frame with bright colours through a mix of sunny landscapes, dazzling flowers and playful scenes of his well-to-do family and friends at leisure.

In order to understand the effect this series has had in the history of color photography, the images in “The Proof of Color” are accompanied by a contextual commentary. An indisputably important figure in photography, Jacques-Henri Lartigue was fascinated by new inventions such as the automobile and telecommunications, and concurrently the new possibilities that the photographic medium offered.