Lugano in 1914

These are genuine colour photographs taken in 1914 by Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky. He obtained them by taking three separate black and white images through the three primary colour filters. Such black and white images can be recombined back to colour e.g. by using three slide projectors with red, green, and blue filters (that's how Prokudin-Gorsky himself showed his photographs) or by recombining them on the three channels of GIMP or Photoshop.

Surprisingly, the city looks very similar today, except for more of the block of flats type of expansion. The photographs were taken from the lower slope of Monte San Salvatore and from Paradiso, looking towards the city centre. The original photographs — at about 40 MB a pop — are so sharp one can read the restaurant signs on the lake shore. One of them says HOTEL–RESTAURANT "AMERICANA"!

There is a Burger King in that area now. They do sell beer, however! In nice plastic cups.

Click the images for larger JPEG versions.