Colour photography was already well advanced in the late 19th century, but was prohibitively expensive. Around 1890 the Swiss company Orell Füssli developed the photochromy: the manual colouring of black and white negatives and printing by means of lithography stones. Photoshopping avant la lettre, a technique that became well known by the American Detroit Photographic Company, which produced a large number of photochromic postcards around 1900. From the first colour photos of France, we made a selection of 22 beautiful photochromic prints of cities and tourist attractions, from Calais to Marseille. 

With a handful of people, quiet streets and undistorted charm Essoyes typifies the entire French Aube department. Embedded between the wide open vineyards of the Ource valley, the town tells the story of the man who made this place for ever famous: Auguste Renoir. Nearly a hundred years after his death the town still breathes at the rhythm of the living environment in which the famous impressionist lived. With his birthday in sight, the municipality managed to get hold of Renoir’s former house. A stroke of luck they say, about which they are very excited. I could already take a look -and I'm very happy about it- behind the scenes of the future  Maison   Renoir,  that will open its doors in 2017.