The Worlding of Light and Air: Dufaycolor and Selochrome in the 1930s

Abstract

During the 1930s, new photographic technologies and practices addressed the difficulties of dealing with different kinds of climate, in Britain and her colonies. This article draws on archival material associated with two brands of photographic film manufactured in England by Ilford Limited: Selochrome and Dufaycolor. It describes these films as involved in a process of ‘worlding’, and as part of a ‘photography complex’ which produces the tropics and the British seaside as testing grounds for photography. Worlding involves the harnessing of light and air, the recalibration of bodies, the redistribution of sensory experiences and the production of new materialities.