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World’s First Colour Moving Pictures Discovered

Our sister museum, the National Media Museum unveiled the worlds earliest colour moving pictures ever made!

Today, our sister museum, the National Media Museum, unveiled the earliest colour moving pictures ever made. These vivid images are now on show to the public for the first time in over a hundred years at the Museum in Bradford.

These films were made by photographer and inventor Edward Turner using a process he patented with his financial backer Frederick Lee in 1899. Experts at the Museum have dated the films to 1901/2, making these the earliest examples of colour moving pictures in existence.

Lee and Turner’s invention has always been regarded by film historians as a practical failure but it has now been ‘unlocked’ through digital technology, revealing the images produced by the process for the first time in over a hundred years. It’s also a story of young death and commercial intrigue in the earliest days of the film industry.

Film still. Knightsbridge, London, looking East towards Hyde Park Corner, c1902 courtesy of the National Media Museum/SSPL
Film still. Knightsbridge, London, looking East towards Hyde Park Corner, c1902 courtesy of the National Media Museum/SSPL

Find out more about this discovery on the National Media Museum blog

2 comments on “World’s First Colour Moving Pictures Discovered

  1. A video link would be greatly appreciated, what a shame that Edward Turner never got to see his invention working in his life.

  2. Greetings! Very helpful advice within this post! It is the little changes which will make the most significant changes. Thanks for sharing!

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