Souc-el-Trouk, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
These color postcards of the sun-baked streets and Moorish architecture of Tunisia were created using the Photochrom process, a technique for applying realistic color to monochrome images that predated the spread of practical color photography.
Invented by a Swiss printer in the 1880s, the process began with coating a tablet of lithographic limestone with a light-sensitive emulsion, then exposing it to sunlight under a photo negative for up to several hours.
The emulsion would harden in proportion to the tones of the image and the less-hardened portions would be removed with a solvent, leaving a fixed lithographic image on the stone.
Following detailed notes on color made by the original photographer, additional litho stones would be prepared for each tint to be used in the final color image — often more than a dozen stones for a single postcard.
When completed, the delicate process produced surprisingly lifelike color with far greater precision than traditional hand-coloring.
These images capture the ornate palaces and bustling markets of Tunisia in its first decades as a French protectorate.
A street in Kairwan.
Image: Library of Congress
Arabs in Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
Cathedral of St. Louis, Carthage.
Image: Library of Congress
Private drawing room, Kasr-el-Said.
Image: Library of Congress
Bedchamber of the late Bey of Tunis, Kasr-el-Said.
Image: Library of Congress
A view of Kairwan from the minaret of the Great Mosque.
Image: Library of Congress
A market in Kairwan.
Image: Library of Congress
A street scene in Kairwan.
Image: Library of Congress
A street scene in Kairwan.
Image: Library of Congress
A traveling cook, Kairwan.
Image: Library of Congress
The waterfront of Sousse.
Image: Library of Congress
A view of Tunis from the Paris Hotel.
Image: Library of Congress
Marr Street, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
A family of Bedouin beggars, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
Outside a Moorish cafe, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
Bab Suika-Suker Square, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
The throne room of Bardo Palace, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
The tribunal chamber of Bardo Palace in Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
Sadiky Hospital, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
Kasbah market, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
La Porte Française, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
A bazaar in Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
Moorish cafe, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
Ebony market, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
A procession in Kairwan.
Image: Library of Congress
Leaving a mosque, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
A snake charmer puts on a performance in Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
The Mosque of St. Catherine, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
Couscous sellers, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
A group before Bab Aleona, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
A camp of nomads, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
Tresure Street, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
A Bedouin woman, Tunis.
Image: Library of Congress
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