First durable colour photograph

The first durable colour photograph was produced on 5 May 1861 to a three-colour method invented by James Clerk Maxwell (UK). The photograph of three colour separations of a tartan ribbon was taken by photographic pioneer Thomas Sutton (UK). Maxwell first suggested the three-colour method in 1855. All the colours of nature can be simulated to the human eye by mixing red, green and blue in proportion. Three colourless photographs of the same scene were taken through red, green and blue filters and superimposed on a screen.