#friese-greene

View On WordPress

(Simon Smith:) During the 1920s, cinematographer Claude Friese-Greene travelled across the UK with his new colour film camera. His trip ended in London, with some of his most stunning images, and these were recently revived and restored by the BFI, and shared across social media and video websites. Since February I have attempted to capture every one of his shots, standing in his footsteps, and using modern equivalents of his camera and lenses. This has been a personal study, that has revealed how little London has changed.

Mental_floss

Of course it is an illusion. The film was made to show in European cinemas and gives a tourist view of the great city. In reality, there were tanks on the streets of the capital during the 1926 General Strike.

London in 1927. Really enjoyed this, to think that my Grandparents were alive then is cool too. Hope the BFI digitize more stuff. 

Although creating an initial impact when it was first exhibited at trade shows in 1925, Claude's experimental colour process failed to reach a large audience owing to heavy flicker and colour fringing. The original negatives were deposited with the BFI for preservation in the late 1950s.