You might have heard of Lyon as the gastronomic capital of France, the second largest city in France, the home of the Olympique Lyonnais football club, which was undefeated for seven (!) straight years between 2002-2008…or maybe you haven’t even heard of it at all! You should only be really ashamed of this last option if you claim that you’re even remotely into film or photography, as Lyon is home to Auguste and Louis Lumière, the (disputed) inventors of the cinematograph!
The Lumière Villa
Auguste and Louis grew up in a beautiful villa with its own interesting history, complete with garden and servants’ quarters, in what was at that time the outskirts of Lyon. Today, the Lumière villa is host to the Institut Lumière. The brothers’ father, Claude-Antoine Lumière, ran a photography company and the two worked for him during that time. Only after their father died did the brothers begin working with motion pictures. The first motion picture ever (supposedly) was recorded right in front of their factory as workers left for home. Today, a still from that movie has been blown up onto a large set of glass plates that adorn the entrance of the Institut Lumière (or so I have read, as when I visited about 5 years ago, it was not the case).
In this neighborhood, the Lumiere brothers invented the cinematograph
The Lumière brothers were quite the inventors and patented many inventions that lead to the motion picture as well. Yet they believed that it was an invention with no future, that it would just be something rich people would play around with. As such, they sold off their film camera and focused more on the field of color photography. They invented what they patented as the Autochrome Lumière printing technique, which was only replaced 40 years after its invention by the revolutionary invention of color film.
Pigments used for autochrome color photography
Still, the Lumière name was synonymous with photography products throughout the 20th century, until a merger with Ilford that basically wiped their name from the market. Even so, it is still good to appreciate what they did to advance this field of art that is such an omnipresent part of our lives these days.
Panoramic view of a 360º picture
Inside the museum, you can look at beautiful black and white and color photographs (printed in the autochrome technique of course), and watch some of the earliest films in history, which are quite entertaining. It’s cool to see where the field has gone in less than 100 years and even more interesting to get such a rare look into the past through the eyes of everyday people. You can also check out all the different kinds of cameras, projection devices, chemicals, and some of their other random inventions, like a bandage for burns and a sort of prosthetic arm shaped like a clamp.
Old camera
This is a perfect place to go and be entertained (and learn something!) on a cold winter day, or any day if you are a big photography and/or cinema buff. It’s fun to try and understand how things used to work, especially for people who may never have even used a film camera (crazy thought!) or for those who have no experience processing film or printing their own photos (other than on a Canon photo printer). It’s actually a very unique, scientific, and time consuming hobby and a great creative outlet that I would recommend anyone give a try! And what better place to get inspired than one of the art form’s birth places. The institute holds conferences, shows films, and has a lot of resources for study. Check their website for more info.
Oh, and did I mention lumière means “light” in French (in case you didn’t already know and/or haven’t seen Disney’s Beauty and the Beast)? It’s like their destiny was already written in their name!
- Institut Lumière
25 rue du Premier-Film
69352 – Lyon Cedex 08
France - Phone: +33 04 78 78 18 95
- Email: contact@institut-lumiere.org
Official Website (in French)
More photos of the museum – Flickr
Photo credits: photo of Lumière Villa by Isa_ïus; photo of Lumiere monument by Jason Choi; photo of photorama, pigments, and old camera by Fringer.
