Color photography was first invented in 1861 by James Clerk Maxwell, a Scottish scientist, who created the first color photograph using a tricolor method. This method involved taking three black-and-white photographs through red, green, and blue filters and then projecting them together to form a color image. The first durable color photograph, taken by Thomas Sutton, was a tartan ribbon using this three-color technique.
The first commercially successful color photography process appeared later, in 1907, with the invention of the Autochrome plate by the Lumière brothers. This process used dyed starch grains to create color images and made color photography more accessible to the public.
Thus, while the invention of color photography dates back to 1861 theoretically and experimentally, practical and commercial color photography began with the Autochrome process in 1907.
