Although footage colorization makes some historians upset, many of us find them fun to watch. A recent video from Glamour Daze shows 1920s New York but in a completely new light. Using AI upscaling and colorization, the video gives us a new look at the Roaring 20s.
This colorized video is a time machine to Victorian England
While many historians argue that we should leave old black-and-white photos and videos untouched, many people enjoy their colorized versions too. And I admit I’m one of them. While I highly appreciate the original sources unchanged, giving them some color gives them a different feel and gives viewers a new, perhaps more personal look on them.
If you enjoy colorized old footage too, you’ll enjoy this video from Vintage Stories. It takes us 130 years back to Victorian England, giving us a glimpse of life as it was back in the late 19th century.
These photos show the street life of 19th century London – in color
Colorization of old images is a topic of discussion among historians, photographers, and retouchers. Some love it, some hate it, but it seems to me that no person is indifferent about it.
If you ask me, I love colorized photos when they’re done with great skill and historic accuracy. And Tom Marshall of PhotograFix (previously) certainly has it both. The topic of his latest project is the street life of 19th century London – a set of photos taken in the mid-1870s. Tom carefully colorized them, giving them a new dimension and making them look as if scenes from Charles Dickens novels came to life.
These colorized photos pay a tribute to animals of the First and Second World War
If you have a pet, you know how important animals are in our lives. They keep us company, give us their love and trust, and keep us sane even during the most difficult periods. Tom Marshall of PhotograFix recognizes the importance of animals and their role in human lives. So, he has colorized photos of animals that accompanied or helped the soldiers in the First and the Second World War. The photos not only give these lesser-known heroes a new life, but also remind us of the importance of animals in the toughest of times.
This colorized 1933 footage shows the last known Tasmanian tiger
Thylacine or Tasmanian tiger was declared extinct way back in 1936 so none of us have ever been able to see it live. But The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) has just released a video that gives a new life to this unusual animal. The colorized footage from 1933 shows not only just any Tasmanian tiger but also the last one of its kind.
The controversial history of colourizing black-and-white photos
The ethical dimensions of artificial intelligence (AI) image colourization were recently brought to public attention when several historical images were altered using digital algorithms.
Irish artist Matt Loughrey digitally colourized and added smiles to photos of tortured prisoners from Security Prison 21 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which was used by the Khmer Rouge from 1975-79. His photos were published in Vice and prompted outrage on Twitter.
Colorization artist under fire for photoshopping smiles to genocide victims
Colorization artist Matt Loughrey recently came under fire for a serious “Photoshop crime.” He shared some of his work with Vice Asia, showing his colorized images of Cambodian genocide victims. But it was soon discovered that he added smiles to them, which caused quite a stir.
Photographer restores and colorizes vintage photos of 26 US presidents
James Berridge of JBColourisation has already demonstrated his impressive restoration and colorization skills. In his recent project, he embarked on a demanding task to make a large chunk of US history more relatable to the 21st-century folks. He restored and colorized 26 presidential portraits. All of those photos that were photographed in black & white now have their restored, colored version.
After he finished the process, James shared a video that, for the first time, shows all US presidents in color. And in another video, he spoke more about his process, the challenges he faced, and why he decided to start this project in the first place.
MyHeritage photo enhancer shows you what your ancestors really looked like
We’ve seen some pretty epic examples of manual photo restoration and colorization. But there’s now a website that promises equally impressive results. MyHeritage uses neural networks to restore your old photos and give them color. And judging from the examples, it truly does a pretty good job for artificial intelligence.
Russian colorist receives multiple suspensions from Facebook and Instagram for sharing “dangerous” images
Olga Shirnina, also known as Klimbim, is one of the leading colorization artists who gives new life to historic images. However, her work has been banned from Facebook and Instagram several times now. Since September last year, her accounts have been suspended multiple times for posting images that depict “dangerous organizations.”
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