March 11, 2011
Color Photographs of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
In March of 2011, The National Museum of American History announced it had discovered the first — and possibly only — color photographs showing the aftermath of the earthquake that nearly destroyed San Francisco on April 18, 1906.
The six (three here) photographs were taken by Frederick Eugene Ives (1856-1937) in October of the same year. Ives used a color method that he patented in the early 1890s, the Photochromoscope system. The 3D photos , or Kromgrams are viewed through a Kromscope.
This stereo view taken October 1906 of the Flood Building on Market Street includes an added layer on the left showing part of the original Black and White separation with the image of a man walking and a trolley car. On the right you can see the effect of movement in this color process registering as color streaks. Photos courtesy of the American History Museum.
From Sutter Street, looking East from top of Majestic Hotel, this kromogram depicts a rooftop-view of earthquake-damaged San Francisco.
From City Hall looking NE, this kromogram depicts a street-level view of the earthquake-damaged city.
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I used to visit my Dad at 450 Sutter St, in SF. It was a tall (to me as a kid) office building. Your photograph taken from Sutter St., in 1906, really made vivid how the city had changed in 50 years.
Dad was born in 1906.
Cool!
If you are familiar with the modern 3-D computer generated images on a flat piece of paper, you also know that your eyes must adjust to achieve the 3-D effect. I tried this technique with the kromograms. I let my eyes cross and focused on the image in the center. Not only does the image appear in 3-D but becomes much clearer than either of the original images.
I can’t vouch for crossing my eyes to achieve the 3-D effect but if each of the two left photos on Page 33 of the May 2011 issue were printed in reverse, using a thin mirror held vertically between the matching photos and looking at the right photo with the right eye and the mirror image of the left photo with the left eye, one should clearly see the photo in 3-D. That would truly have been a novel achievement to capture these scenes with total realism. It might even be worth republishing these photos as I noted above with the “mirror” instructions included. Bill Walling
15 Tamarac Drive, Madison, CT 06443
Being nearsighted, I was able to move very close to the images and enjoy a fine 3-D view. Better, as Jackie explained, than either image. But I was not able to do it with all the images. Are they perhaps wrongly registered?
These photographs are priceless. They are a true treasure.
I printed these out on glossy photo-paper with the image sized at 7 inches wide. Cut them out and they work perfectly, as intended, in a Stereoscope!!! For those who don’t know what a Stereoscope is, ask your grandmother … or perhaps your great-grandmother. It would be nice if the Smithsonian would post a higher resolution image of these … and all 6 of them, if the remaining are as good as these. Maurice
This is an amazing find. It would be fantastic if the Smithsonian would publish these electronically as high-resolution scans, formatted to print at the correct size for use in a stereoscope. I would love to try viewing these in a stereoscope, as they were originally intended.
I viewed the photos in the article in 3D by just holding the page a few inches from my eyes. (Unfocus your eyes, then slowly refocus to bring the images together.) How extraordinary to see this as San Franciscans did over 100 years ago.