The Interferential Colour Plate (aka Lippmann Plate), an introduction to the first true and permanent colour photographic technique in the history of photography
Materiality, Identification, and Conservation Challenges of Lippmann Plates
Jens Gold, PhD candidate, Preus Museum – National Museum of Photography, Norway
Keywords: Lippmann-Interferential-colour-plate, Interferential-colour, Lippmann, Neuhauss, Lehmann, Krone, Hertzberg
In 1891 the first true and permanent colour photographic technique in the history of photography was presented by Gabriel Lippmann (1845-1921). Almost immediately after the presentation, several photographers and scientists started to experiment and produce images with Lippmann colour. This utmost fascinating technique depends on the standing wave phenomenon of light, it therefore does not need pigments, nor dyes, to perform. Looking at the activity and the historic literature, several thousand Lippmann interferential colour images must have been produced. Today however, only a few institutions and collectors worldwide possess original examples of these rare colour images.
This photographic colour technique appears in a variety of conditions and presentation forms which highly affect their vulnerability, permanence, and viewing properties. The Preus Museum – the National Museum of Photography in Norway – has a considerable collection of twelve unique Lippmann colour plates made by two key pioneers of Lippmann colour: Richard Neuhauss and Hans Lehmann. In addition, a unique historic collection with books, papers and objects concerning the Lippmann process is part of this collection. The group of objects builds the basis of a four-year PhD research project that started in the summer of 2021, by the conservation department of Preus Museum [1]. The project aims to investigate Lippmann colour in terms of its materiality, history and its preservation and conservation challenges. The legendary interferential colour photographs by Richard Neuhauss, Hans Lehmann, Hermann Krone [2], Gabriel Lippmann and John Hertzberg are in focus of the presentation to be held. It will give an introduction to the history, technology, presentation, and preservation challenges of Lippmann colour plates. Examples of interferential colour plates will be shown during the presentation. This will be items from the Preus Museum collection, the Norwegian Museum of Technology, the Hermann Krone collection at the TU-Dresden, the Lette Verein Berlin as well as from the Photo Elysée Lausanne.
[1] J. Gold, Materiality, Identification, and Conservation of Lippmann Plates - in Hanin Hannouch (Editor) Gabriel Lippmann’s Colour Photography: Science, Media, Museums; Amsterdam University Press, Florence 2022, Chapter 9, pp. 213-250.
[2] J. Gold, Hermann Krone’s contributions to Lippmann colour photography – colour plates, materiality, and condition; Rundbrief Photography; coming 2024.
CV:
Jens Gold has been a photograph conservator at Preus Museum: National Museum for Photography (Norway) since 2002. Currently, he is PhD Candidate at the University of Oslo – Institute for Archaeology, Conservation and History, with the research project: “Lippmann Interference Photography: History, Materiality and Treatment Challenges”. He was co-curator of Slow Color Photography – Lippmann interferential color photography in the Preus Museum Collection. In 1998 he completed his studies in photograph conservation from HTW Berlin - University of Applied Sciences, and in 2018 he graduated from the University of Oslo with an MA in object conservation. From 1999 to 2001, he was a fellow in the Mellon Advanced Residency Program in Photograph Conservation at the George Eastman House and the Image Permanence Institute in Rochester, New York.
Literature: Hanin Hannouch (Editor): Gabriel Lippmann’s Colour Photography: Science, Media, Museums; Amsterdam University Press 2022.