Figure 1.--This Autichrome is one of the first cilor photographs taken in Ireland. It shows Two fishermen and a boy, sureky a sin or grandson. It was taken An Spidéal,meaning 'the hospital') -- a village on the shore of Galway Bay during 1913. The boy wears a flannel dress, still common in remote areas of Ireland at the time. The photograph was part of Albert Kahn's Archive of the World project.

Albert (Abraham) Kahn was a wealthy French banker and middle aged vefore he got interested in photography, atracted byb both travel exoeiebnces and the new Autochrome color process. His age would date him to 19th century photography, but photography only became a passion with him in the 20th century. So just as the Autochrome process appearwd, Kahn set out on an impossible quest to document every culture on the plannet--all in color. This of course was impossible, even for a man of his resources. He rose from humble Jewish origins. Hisfamily was expelled by the Germans from Alsace (1871), but through hard work and inteligence he navigated French bigotry and intolerance. At the time France was seen as more anti-Semetic than Germany. He became a partner in an important French bank which gave him the resources for his project. His banking wiork carried him to many countries. He was a hard-nosed banker with philantroopic insticts. He began giving travel scolarshios. He had a vague idea of promoting human peace and understanding, but curiously shared his collection with very few. He housed it in his garden estate. Gardens of the Wrld was another passion. His color images are some of the first color images of the many countries (at the time many were colonies) that he and his team photographed. He called his project the 'Archives of the Planet' which became his real passion. It all began with a trip to Japan. Eventually he ammased a collectiion iof 70,000 color photographs from about 50 different countries (1909-31) he project only ended when the Great Depression affected his finances. We have archieve some of his images in Sweden and other countries. In old age, the Germans arrived again (1940). He died soon after, but his priceless collection survived the War.

Created: 6:42 PM 3/5/2023
Last updated: 6:42 PM 3/5/2023