Dreamlike color photos capture English beaches at the turn of the century

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Dreamlike color photos capture English beaches at the turn of the century
Credit: Image: SSPL/Getty Images

Otto Pfenninger's color photos

A day at the beach with one of the first color cameras

Alex Q. Arbuckle

1906

[img src="http://i.amz.mshcdn.com/ZqBb-Lwj_F4wFmv5S4Fe84zPLdg=/fit-in/1440x1440/uploads%2F2016%2F6%2F24%2Fottopfenninger_9.jpg" caption="" credit="SSPL/Getty Images" alt=""]

Born in Switzerland in 1855, Otto Pfenninger moved to England in the 1880s, where he became a pioneer in the emerging field of color photography.In 1905, he designed and built a unique camera which used three color-separated plates to capture a full-color image in a single exposure.The following summer, he tested his new contraption on the sunny beaches and parks of Brighton, rendering leisurely and candid scenes in vivid (if somewhat warped) color.

[img src="http://i.amz.mshcdn.com/Nv8azddMCiYmx7HYMgYAcG-Gdfo=/fit-in/1440x1440/uploads%2F2016%2F6%2F24%2Fottopfenninger_1.jpg" caption="" credit="SSPL/Getty Images" alt=""]

[img src="http://i.amz.mshcdn.com/D2qGAGznL-PSrPQhMYPKjaLkOC8=/fit-in/1440x1440/uploads%2F2016%2F6%2F24%2Fottopfenninger_2.jpg" caption="" credit="SSPL/Getty Images" alt=""]

[img src="http://i.amz.mshcdn.com/OiUB5K3IE2ghZj-wCEgNDXQwOqY=/fit-in/1440x1440/uploads%2F2016%2F6%2F24%2Fottopfenninger_3.jpg" caption="" credit="SSPL/Getty Images" alt=""]

[img src="http://i.amz.mshcdn.com/mQC7uq1P1vUdalgURX0QRJ7DDJg=/fit-in/1440x1440/uploads%2F2016%2F6%2F24%2Fottopfenninger_5.jpg" caption="" credit="SSPL/Getty Images" alt=""]

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[img src="http://i.amz.mshcdn.com/Fo8bMIJw0PxD9SZSA21IaMOGRN8=/fit-in/1440x1440/uploads%2F2016%2F6%2F24%2Fottopfenninger_10.jpg" caption="" credit="SSPL/Getty Images" alt=""]

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