Colour is not just in the pixel: how our eyes construct it
Cones, context, constancy and colour vision differences: why identical RGB values do not always create the same impression of colour.
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Behind the image.
Light, colour, film and optics: understand what makes a photograph.
Why the same colour changes under different light
Light spectra, metamerism and white balance: understand why skin, clothing or a print can change colour with the lighting.
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Why your photograph changes colour from one screen to another
sRGB, Display P3, ICC profiles and export: understand what changes a photograph’s colours between editor, browser and screen.
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Film: light becomes matter.
How an emulsion records light, how development reveals the image and how photographic film is manufactured.
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A lens is more than glass.
From optical glass and polishing to coatings and assembly: the steps and compromises that shape a photographic lens.
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Kodak: how photography entered everyday life
From dry plates to the Brownie and colour film: a history of materials, laboratories and everyday photography.
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Fujifilm: a history of materials, colour and photographic uses
From the industrial project of 1934 to QuickSnap, Velvia and instax: understanding distinct film families.
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How 35 mm became a photographic format
From Edison and Dickson’s cinema to Barnack, the Leica I and the 135 cassette: a material history of small-format photography.
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Polaroid: how a photograph learned to appear immediately
From the Model 95 to the SX-70: image transfer, integral film and the distinctive act of instant photography.
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Developing your first black-and-white film, step by step
Tank, reel, developer and fixer: understand every stage of film processing without relying on a universal recipe.
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Colour negative and slide film: two paths to colour
Understand dye images, the orange mask and the differences between C-41, E-6 and RA-4 colour printing.
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Film grain: what you see and what the emulsion makes
Light-sensitive crystals, developed silver, dyes and enlargement: understand grain without treating it as a simple defect.
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Inside the darkroom: making a silver-gelatin print
Enlargers, paper, test strips, dodging, burning and washing: understand every stage of black-and-white printing.
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Halation: why bright lights spill across film
Reflected light, anti-halation layers and red halos: understand remjet, AHU and the differences between film halation and optical glow.
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Glow and bloom: where do soft highlights come from?
Diffusion, contrast, flare and focus: understand why lights seem to radiate and how to control the effect without losing the subject.
Read the storyOur editorial method
These articles bring together technical and historical sources cited throughout the chapters. Diagrams explain principles; they are not laboratory measurements.
Text and some illustrations are prepared with AI assistance, then checked against the cited references. Documentary photographs retain their authors and licences.