--- description: A vibrant look at America from the 1880s to the 1920s through what a new book's editors call "the first color photographs" of the New World. title: 'An American Odyssey': Color Photos of the New World image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf40355c5c487a79a/69884bb006f2c119b6339b24/american_odyssey_10.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Culture](/tag/culture/) ## Culture Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # These Photochroms Captured 19th-Century America in Living Color by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 16, 2014 4:24 PM CUT  Grand Canyon, view from O’Neill’s Point, Arizona, photochrom. Grand Canyon, view from O’Neill’s Point, Arizona, photochrom.William Henry Jackson / Collection Marc Walter / Courtesy TASCHEN by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 16, 2014 4:24 PM CUT **NOTE: This gallery is best viewed in “Full Screen” mode; see button at right, above.** Most of us perceive history, as depicted in photographs, in stark black and white — both figuratively and literally. After all, the most famous, stirring images associated with many of the landmark events and signature figures from, say, the American Civil War through the Great Depression, World War II and even much of the post-war 20th-century are often black and white pictures. But a new book, [_An American Odyssey_](http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/photography/all/05772/facts.an%5Famerican%5Fodyssey.htm "undefined") (TASCHEN, 2014), provides a strikingly vibrant look at America, from the late 1880s to the early 1920s, through what the book’s editors call “the first color photographs of the North American continent.” The [photocroms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photochrom "undefined") in this gallery are from the private collection of graphic designer and photographer Marc Walter, who owns one of the world’s largest collections of vintage travel pictures and co-authored _An American Odyssey_ with Sabine Arqué. Made by a process in which black and white photographic negatives are transferred to color lithographic printing plates or stones — rather than tinted by hand — photochrom postcards and other mementos were hugely popular in the early 20th century. (It’s of course worth noting that color photography — made primarily via color separation, the Lumières’ Autochrome process, and other methods — had been around since since the mid- to late-19th century. But it wasn’t until Kodak and [Agfa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agfacolor "undefined") began producing mass-market, consumer-ready color film in the 1930s that the art and craft of color picture-taking was widely and affordably available.) [**\[See Sanna Dullaway’s contemporary photo colorizations.\]**](http://lightbox.time.com/2013/02/17/bringing-color-to-presidents-past/#1 "undefined") As for why the photochroms seen here are so extraordinary, the introduction to _An American Odyssey_ notes: --- > “” --- The images in _An American Odyssey_ are at-once beautiful and technically brilliant documents that reanimate history in a way few other media possibly can. [**Pre-order** **_An American Odyssey_** **from Taschen.com.**](http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/photography/all/05772/facts.an%5Famerican%5Fodyssey.htm "undefined")  Mulberry Street, New York, photochrom. Anonymous / Collection Marc Walter / Courtesy TASCHEN  Sunset from the Battery, New York, photochrom. Anonymous / Collection Marc Walter / Courtesy TASCHEN  Portland Head Light, Maine, photochrom. Anonymous / Collection Marc Walter / Courtesy TASCHEN  Memorial Arch, Hartford, Connecticut, photochrom. Anonymous / Collection Marc Walter / Courtesy TASCHEN  Arch Rock, Mackinac Island, Michigan, photochrom. Anonymous / Collection Marc Walter / Courtesy TASCHEN  Diving for coins, Bahamas, photochrom. William Henry Jackson / Collection Marc Walter / Courtesy TASCHEN  Grand Canyon, view from O’Neill’s Point, Arizona, photochrom. William Henry Jackson / Collection Marc Walter / Courtesy TASCHEN  Apache Chief James A. Garfield, photochrom. Collection Marc Walter / Courtesy TASCHEN  Mariposa Grove, "Three Graces," Yosemite National Park, California. Anonymous / Collection Marc Walter / Courtesy TASCHEN  Mount Lowe Railway, on the circular bridge, California, photochrom. William Henry Jackson / Collection Marc Walter / Courtesy TASCHEN  Chinese pharmacy, Chinatown, San Francisco, photochrom. Anonymous / Collection Marc Walter / Courtesy TASCHEN  Cape Horn, Columbia River, photochrom. Anonymous / Collection Marc Walter / Courtesy TASCHEN  An American Odyssey, published by TASCHEN, May 2014. TASCHEN ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3879610/photos-first-to-show-north-america-in-color/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3879610/photos-first-to-show-north-america-in-color/"},"headline":"These Photochroms Captured 19th-Century America in Living Color","datePublished":"2014-04-16T16:24:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:44.342Z","description":"A new book provides a vibrant look at America, from the late 1880s to the early 1920s, through what its editors call \"the first color photographs of the North American continent.\"","url":"https://time.com/3879610/photos-first-to-show-north-america-in-color/","keywords":["Culture","California","Michigan","San Francisco","New York City","Maine","color photography"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf40355c5c487a79a/69884bb006f2c119b6339b24/american_odyssey_10.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Cosgrove","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf40355c5c487a79a/69884bb006f2c119b6339b24/american_odyssey_10.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Grand Canyon, view from O’Neill’s Point, Arizona","caption":"Grand Canyon, view from O’Neill’s Point, Arizona, photochrom","creditText":"William Henry Jackson / Collection Marc Walter / Courtesy TASCHEN","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/culture/","name":"Culture"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3879610/photos-first-to-show-north-america-in-color/","name":"These Photochroms Captured 19th-Century America in Living Color"}}]}] ```