John B. Trevor, Emily Winthrop, 1910  John B. Trevor, John B.
Trevor and Bronson Trevor, ca. 1912  John B. Trevor, Mrs. Lucius
K. Wilmerding, ca. 1916  John B. Trevor, Mrs. John B. Trevor,
ca. 1914  The autochrome process is the first successful method
for producing color photographs. John B. Trevor’s portrait of
Emily Winthrop from 1910 is a classic direct-confrontation
portrait of the subject. The muted skin tones and bits of red
highlights that detail her expression are examples of the
autochrome’s delicate Impressionist-like colors and astonishing
evidence of a forgotten process of the past.  In 1907 Auguste
and Louis Lumiere patented the first commercially successful
color process, which they called Autochrome Lumiere. It involved
glass plates, a backlight, snoot and, mysteriously, potato
starch. This combination revolutionized photography. At first
glance, the graininess of the autochrome resembles today’s
undesirable digital noise. But it’s actually the potato starch
granules in a three-color matrix. T