The Pioneer

Shirley Baker experimented with Kodachrome color slide film in the mid-60s while working in Salford and Blackpool. Several of these images appear in her first book, Street Photographs, edited by Bloodaxe, in 1989.  

In post-war Britain, these photographs are considered to be ‘early use of color’, even earlier than the color that appear in magazines and advertisements of the 70s.

In these photographs, the viewer may perceive the early use of color in the film per se, but also because before these, Sherley shot black and white, which causes the eye to look at reality differently. Black and white forces the eye to see details that color blends all together. In fact, many modern photographers will look through the viewfinder set in monochrome before shooting color.