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The images reproduced on these pages are scans of glass plates in the 9x12cm format. Found in a Paris flea market in 1971, the originals have retained their original colours surprisingly well : the Autochrome process dyes are particularly stable, as can be seen in these images which were originally shot in the summer of 1907, the first year in which Autochrome plates were made available to the public. If the photographer's name is now lost, it is easy to imagine that he was a rich Parisian touring the Alps; he can be seen posing in four of the images. In several of these, he ca be seen carrying a large tripod case. When one thinks of the many many kilos of equipment carried by the photographer (tripod, case, camera, lens, glass plates...) one can only be impressed by his determination and courage !

The Autochrome emulsion, manufactured by the Lumière Laboratories in Lyon from 1907 to 1932, was the first commercially available colour process. Technically surpassed in the 1930s by film-baed Agfa, Dufay and Kodak processes, Autochrome had a sensitivity equivalent approximately to ISO -8, which is to say, in bright sunlight, one needed an exposure of 8 seconds at f/16, hence the need for a tripod. But despite its shortcomings (low sensitivity, large grain) it had definite qualities, not the least of which were accurate colour reproduction, great dye stability, and easy, relatively non-polluting processing.

Because of their size and transparency, these images had to be scanned on a scanner capable of handling large transparencies, in this case an Acer ScanPrisa 1240UT. No corrections were applied to the scans other than a few basic adjustments to assure an accurate reproduction of the colours and contrast of the actual images so that they might be presented such as they appear today. The vertical striping that can be seen in some of these scans, (as in image 12 ), comes either from a flaw in manufacture of the plates or, more likely, in processing, and not from the scan.

In these photos which are now one hundred years old, one can recognize the monastery of la Grande Chartreuse ( image 18 ); today such a photo is not possible due to the growth of trees over the past century. The other images show the mountains around the Lautaret mountain pass, familiar today to all fans of the Tour de France. The photographer, eager to use up his photographic plates prior to the expiration date, also photographed bouquets of flowers undoutedly to "test" the colour reproduction of the Lumière Autochrome process.

This is without a doubt the oldest collection of colour plates of the Alps and of la Grande Chartreuse.

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