An article I published in The New Wolf in September 2011:
If a person’s life could be summed up in a series of concise
chapters, Albert Kahn’s would have two. The first involved earning a
fortune, becoming highly educated, mingling with Europe’s intellectual
elite, travelling extensively, and giving his money to a greater good.
The second, much briefer chapter, sees him lose all his wealth and die a
poor, forgotten man. Of course, this concise version does not do his
life justice. By reading into the details of the first chapter, one
discovers a revolutionary venture he dedicated a great part of his life
to – one which has received relatively little attention. Despite mixing
with some of the world’s most influential people, his life and life’s
work went almost entirely unrecognised. Our past is peppered with unsung
heroes, but their work usually went unnoticed because they had no
substantial social clout, no wealth, no way of getting attention. Kahn,
though, had enough wealth, connections and influence to have the whole
world listen. Unfortunately, historical events would ultimately destroy
his potential for success.
In 2007, the centennial anniversary of the Lumière brothers’
invention of colour photography, led to the discovery of the works of a group
of photographers. A wealthy philanthropist had hired them to travel to
over fifty countries and document the world. The photographs were known
as autochromes: to produce one, one had to expose a glass plate, covered
with thousands of potato granules (died violet, red and green), to
light so it would pass through the granules and onto special emulsion,
giving a full-colour image. Autochromes are some of the most beautiful
and ephemeral colour photographs ever witnessed: “its blues have a soft
intensity, like a crystal seen through gauze. Its greens vibrate and
crackle with a verdant energy. Its reds are fierce and arresting” – David Okuefuna.
The photographers’ work began in 1908 and went on for twenty-two years.
By 1930 they had collected 72,000 autochromes. This collection is known
as “Les Archives de la Planète” (The Archives of the Planet) and the
wealthy philanthropist who designed and funded it was Albert Kahn.
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Image scanned from ‘The Wonderful World of Albert Kahn' by David Okuefuna
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