Factsheet

Developer:
Héliographe
Based in Tokyo, Japan

Contact:
contact@heliographe.net

Release Date:
latest version:
1.51 (April 2024)

version 1.0:
released May 2023

Platforms:
iPhone (iOS 15+)

Websites:
https://trichromy.com

App Store Link

Price:
Free download
In App Purchase to unlock watermark options

USD 2.99
EUR 2.99
JPY 400

Description

Trichromy is a camera app for iPhone/iPad that lets people experiment with trichromatic photography. Trichromatic photography is the oldest color photography process, predating color film: it relied on clever insight into human perception to create color from black and white film exposures.

Features

• Straightforward, easy to use interface that makes it easy to capture trichromatic photos


• Timing slider to quickly set time between exposures, from 1/30th of a second to 5 seconds


• Square and 4:3 aspect ratio capture


• Supports tap to focus, front facing camera, and rear camera switching (on iPhones with multiple rear cameras)


• Output options to overlay date/time/app logo watermarks, with an adjustable trichromatic effect to match the capture aesthetic

History

When I discovered the work of Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky, I was subjugated. Tasked to document the vast Russian empire in the early 1900s, he took thousands of color photographs in a time before color film. How did he achieve this? By using trichromy, a 3-exposure process where black and white pictures were taken through a red filter, a green filter, and a blue filter, and then recombined.

If the 3 pictures are perfectly aligned, they form a normal color image - but any misalignment due to movement in the camera or scene creates a wide range of color effects that give trichromatic photography a distinct aesthetic.

While some artists still produce trichromatic images using black and white film, I wanted to bring it to the world's most pocketable, accessible camera: the iPhone. I built a first prototype that was distributed to photographer friends to experiment with; based on their feedback, I refined the UI and finally released it on the App Store in 2023.

Numerous bug fixes and improvements since have made it the best and easiest way to produce trichromatic images with your phone.