Color photography

Color photography was explored during the 19th century and initial experiments in color could not fix the photograph, nor prevent the color from fading. During the middle of that century, available emulsions were not yet fully capable of being sensitized by the color green or red - full sensitivity to the color red was only achieved with complete success at the beginning of the 20th century. The first permanent color photograph was taken in 1861 by physicist James Clerk Maxwell. The first color film, Autochrome, only reached the market in 1907 and was based on dots dyed from potato extract.

The first modern color film, Kodachrome, was introduced in 1935 based on three color emulsions. Most modern color film, except Kodachrome, is based on technology developed by Agfa-color in 1936. Instant color film was introduced by Polaroid in 1963.

Color photography can form images as a positive transparency intended for use in a slide projector (slides) or as color negatives intended for use as positive color enlargements on special coated paper. The latter is currently the most common form of color (non-digital) photographic film, due to the introduction of automatic photo printing equipment.