In the "Olden Days" professional science was still in its infancy. People who trained in science and practiced science were using every ounce of creativity and imagination at their disposal to discover the nature of the world. They were scrappy and inventive, not unlike the modern day hobbyists and makers you see here on Instructables.

For this "remix" instructable I will outline a modern replication of the experiment that produced the first color photograph ever made. As you will see, the method for making the original color photograph was itself a remix! It was made in 1861 by Scottish physicist, James Clerk Maxwell working with the photographer Thomas Sutton (see a nice historical blog post here). The image was of a tartan ribbon and based on ideas he had worked out and described in a scientific paper six years earlier, in 1855 (you can get Maxwell's original paper here).

In a world driven by multi-media and digital imagery, it is easy to forget that not so long ago, photography was a brand new technology. As of right now, it is less than 200 years old! The first photograph known to be taken that is still surviving today was by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 or 1827. It is a photograph taken through an upstairs window, looking out over the rooftops of his estate in Le Grase, Burgundy, France. The earliest photograph known to include people was by Louis Daguerre in 1838, showing the Boulevard du Temple in Paris.

These early photographs were all monochromatic -- "black and white." They were largely based on chemical reactions of silver nitrate, which darkens when exposed to sunlight. Such reactions are called "photochemical." While the novelty of capturing life exactly as it appeared at a given moment was enchanting, there was always something missing: color.

This Instructable will guide you through a modern implementation of the Maxwell-Sutton method. It is not necessary by any means, but it is enjoyable process and has its own charming elements that can be launching points into your own personal explorations of the artistry and science of photography.