Portrait of Mark Twain, 1908, by Alvin Langdon Coburn, Autochrome (Wikimedia Commons)
A note on this story: Chris Farnsworth, from the Burlington weekly Seven Days, together with the key figure who re-discovered the Lumière Brothers factory in Burlington, Hugo Martínez Cazón, published this story in March of 2022. Cazón began his search by accident, while looking for architectural and building records in Burlington in 1991. The name Lumière showed up on some documents, triggering a 31-year quest to understand how and why this famous name in cinema and photography was on Burlington, Vermont, building records. After much research, Cazón traveled to Lyon where, at first, the local historic preservation group had never heard of a Lumière factory outside of France; the Lyon factory was demolished in the 1950s. When they realized the find, one member simply said “You have the building!” Cazón went back Burlington and began telling the story of this unique building and its importance to the world of photography.
PHSNE received permission from Farnsworth and Seven Days to excerpt the basic outline of this photo-historic find, with links to the full story, local TV coverage. and other historical groups. A sample of autochrome images appear here as well.
— Ryck Lent for PHSNE
Chris Farnsworth’s story in Seven Days
The Lumiere Brothers and Autochrome Photography (YouTube)
The Lumière North American Company – Seeing is Believing! © Hugo Martínez Cazón
Hugo Martinez Cazon – Lumiere Photography in Burlington – Moments with Melinda (YouTube)
More about the Autochrome process from the UK Science & Media Museum and two online collections of Autochromes:
The History of the Autochrome: The Dawn of Colour Photography
A National Geographic gallery of Autochromes from the 1920s – 1930s
The Alfred Stieglitz Collection: Autochromes – Art Institute of Chicago
The interior of J. P, Morgan Library, 1912, by Arnold Genthe, Autochrome (LOC Genthe Collection)
