Paris in Color — La Belle Époque (c. 1914)

"We're used to seeing the period of 1914 in grainy, dreary black-and-white, and to seeing nostalgic celebrations of La Belle Epoque represented graphically by the lively full-color posters and advertisements one finds in décor stores. But thanks to the full color photos you see here, we can see World War I‑era Paris in full and vibrant color — images of the city 110 years ago almost just as Parisians saw it at the time. Icons like the Moulin Rouge come to life in bright daylight, above, and lighting up the night, below."

The photographs were made, writes Messy N Chic, "using Autochrome Lumière technology between 1914 and 1918 [a technique developed in 1903 by the Lumière brothers, credited as the first filmmakers]…. [T]here are around 72,000 Autochromes from the time period of places all over the world, including Paris in its true colors."

Below, hot air balloons hover in the enormous Grand Palais.

Early cinema Aubert Palace, below, in the Grands Boulevards, shimmers beautifully, 

as does the art-deco lighting of the Eiffel Tower.

[More photos on Open Culture]