Autochrome Transparency
Three people, one identified (in margin of original transparency) as Blacksheep, standing amidst pinyon-juniper at "Keems" (most likely Keems Canyon, AZ). The person with his back to the camera is attired in olive green jodpurs and shirt, knee-high leather boots and a hat that are typical of National Park Service garb (so perhaps this is a park ranger...?). The person in the far background is obscured from view by the "park ranger" person, but at his right is Blacksheep, a Navajo man, wearing tan trousers, a brown shirt, black vest and yellow head band. His hair is cropped shoulder length and he's also wearing an earring, necklace and bracelet. (He can also be seen in a hogan with his family in accession # 97.092.)
- Object: Autochrome Transparency
- Artist: George Holt
- Circa: Early to mid 1920s
- Dimensions: 3 1/4" X 4"
- Culture Area: Southwest
- Cultural Group: Navajo
- Cultural Context: The autochrome transparencies in the Flegal collection were taken by George Holt, the donor's father. He was a chaplain for the baptist church and travelled all over the world visiting missionaries and subsequently photographing neophytes in various locales. The autochrome process was the first commercially successful color application of photography which enabled photographers like Holt to get high quality color photos of their subjects. However, the burden of carrying numerous unexposed glass plates to remote locations often proved cumbersome, at best. As a sidebar, the historic significance of autochrome is worth noting. As mentioned earlier, autochromes were "the first viable color photographic process." The process was patented in 1907 by Auguste and Louis Lumiere of France. "The autochrome 'screen' was created by forming a layer of minute starch grains dyed in the primary colors (red, blue, green) ..." which was over lain with a layer of lampblack (filling the space between the grains) then a layer of shellack. "So when exposed, the light traversed the glass through the grain and exposed the light/color sensitive emulsion from the back. After exposure (using a view camera on a tripod) the plate was processed to reverse in an acid dichromate-type process."
- Donor: Mrs. Carl Flegal
- Catalog #: 97.095