Posted on

Early photography

Hand-Tinting

One development however that took some time was that of coloured photographs. However it was still possible to create coloured images as this stereograph demonstrates. This effect was created by hand colouring (also known as hand-tinting).

Hand tinting involved lightly painting over an image, allowing it to be coloured whilst also still being able to tell it is a photograph. In addition sometimes the image was only partially coloured, such as this one, in order to save costs. This technique creates a charming yet surreal blend of the two mediums of illustration and photography.

Hand colouring was also achieved by a technique called overpainting. This used a much heavier pigment which obscured the original photograph. With either technique the hand colourist was usually a woman. These days this technique is still used by artists for the effect it creates.