Rare Color Photography of Early 1900s Paris

Prepare to see the City of Light like you’ve never seen it before. For most of us, this pre-war city has always existed in black and white. But in these photographs, Paris is bursting with color. All the photos shown below were made using Autochrome Lumière technology. It’s an early color photography process, patented in 1903 and invented by the famous French Auguste and Louis Lumière, populary known as Lumière Brothers. They were the earliest filmmakers in history.

Montagne Sainte-Geneviève street

Rue Cambon street, 1918

Next to The National Residence of the Invalides, 1910

Republic Square, 1918

Rue Rambuteau street, 1914

Rue du Pot de Fer street, 1914

La Samaritaine department store, 1930

Saint-Denis street, 1914

Montparnasse street, 1914

Rue Mouffetard street

Hotel de Ville, 1919

Cinema Pathé Gobelins, 1918

Bourbon seafront, 1910

Boulevard Exelmans, 1920