We often think of history in black and white, quite literally. And that’s because most very old photographs are indeed monochrome, taken before a time when images could easily and affordably be developed in living color. While there’s a certain charm to black and white pics, they can sometimes give the impression that the past was a little duller, or less alive. Which couldn't be further from the truth.
Enter colorized historical photos. A trend that adds splashes of color to frozen moments, warming up faces, giving eyes some sparkle, and breathing new life into everyday scenes from years gone by. The reimagined photographs remind us that the people who came before us were real humans, with colorful clothing, rosy cheeks, sunlit surroundings, and lives as vivid as our own.
There’s an online community dedicated to sharing gorgeous colorized historical photographs. r/ColorizedHistory has clocked up more than 631,000 members. And it’s not hard to see why. The posts put a new spin on old photography, and turn the static past into a stunning, colorful gallery that somehow helps to bridge the gap between “then” and “now.” Bored Panda has put together a list of our favorite ones. Keep scrolling and prepare to step back in time, while gaining a new perspective on history.
#1 African American Boys On Easter Morning. Southside, Chicago, Illinois. April 1941
Image credits: marinamaral
#2 A Serbian Soldier Sleeps With His Father Who Came To Visit Him On The Front Line Near Belgrade , 1914/1915
Image credits: Lorenzo-Folli
#3 June 6th, 1944: Into The Jaws Of Death
Image credits: photojacker
#4 Senegalese Ww1 Soldier Who Lost Both His Arms Writes A Letter With His New Prosthetic Limbs. At Vocational Rehabilitation School For Amputees, 28 Avenue De New-York, Paris - 1918
Image credits: mygrapefruit
#5 "Do Your Bit! Skate To Work" Women Of The Uso Promoting Gas Rationing During WWII. New York City, 1940s
Image credits: Urban2487
#6 Father, Son, Grandfather And Great Grandfather, New Guinea, 1970, By Irving Penn Photos From The Collection "Worlds In A Small Room"
Image credits: Lorenzo-Folli
#7 "The Giant Of Illinois" - Robert Wadlow, The Tallest Man In Recorded History, With His Family - 1935
Image credits: jecinci
#8 Martin Luther King Jr.’s, 1958 Arrest In Montgomery, Alabama. A Photo Taken By Charles Moore
Image credits: Lorenzo-Folli
#9 Mark Twain And His Long-Time Friend John T. Lewis, The Inspiration For The Character "Jim" In "Huckleberry Finn", New York, 1903
Image credits: marinamaral
#10 A Photographer Uses His Own Backdrop To Mask Poland's World War II Ruins While Shooting A Portrait In Warsaw, November 1946
Image credits: marinamaral
#11 Soldier’s Goodbye & Bobbie The Cat In Sydney, Australia, 8 March 1941 During Ww2
Image credits: mygrapefruit
#12 Ginger Rogers In The Spotlight In Gold Diggers Of 1933
Image credits: Klimbim
#13 Titanic Orphans, Brothers Michel And Edmond Navratil, 1912. They Were The Only Children To Be Rescued From The Titanic Without A Parent Or Guardian
Image credits: marinamaral
#14 "The Kiss Of Life" - A Utility Worker Giving Mouth-To-Mouth To A Co-Worker After He Contacted A Low Voltage Wire - 1967
Image credits: jecinci
#15 1902: Knife Grinders In Thiers, France
These knife grinders had the nickname of ventres jaunes or ‘yellow stomachs’ referring to the yellow dust released by the grinding wheels.
By laying face down, these yellow stomachs would save their backs from being hunched over all day. Workers were encourage to bring their dogs to not only keep them company but to act as heaters to keep them warm by having the dogs lie on their legs!
Image credits: Angelina_retro
#16 Cheyenne Dog Soldier "Black Wolf" - Date Unknown
Image credits: jecinci
#17 Winnebago Men Looking Out Over The Dells, Wisconsin, 1925
Image credits: mygrapefruit
#18 Albert Einstein Receiving His U.S. Citizenship Certificate After His Naturalization Ceremony - Oct. 1, 1940
Image credits: jecinci
#19 A Japanese Mother And Child, Dressed In Traditional Clothing, Siting Amid Rubble And Burnt Trees In Hiroshima, 4 Months After The Atomic Bomb Was Dropped. December, 1945 By Alfred Eisenstaedt
Image credits: buba7q
#20 Comedian And Entertainer Lucille Ball Applies Makeup For A Performance In Her Dressing Room. 1934
Image credits: Klimbim
#21 A Fashionable Lady From Moscow, 1860s
Image credits: Klimbim
#22 A Dog Stealing A Postman's Glove, Minneapolis, CA. 1950, Photograph Courtesy Of The Minneapolis Historical Society
Image credits: zuzahin
#23 University Students At Restaurant ‘Flustrets’, Uppsala, Sweden 1896
Image credits: reddit.com
#24 A Polish Woman, Holding Her Small Child, Stands On A Warsaw Street That Has Been Destroyed By Luftwaffe Bomber Raids At The Start Of World War II In Europe - September, 1939
Image credits: zuzahin
#25 Swedish High Jumper Gunhild Larking From The 1956 Summer Olympics In Melbourne, Australia, From Archives Of Life Magazine
Image credits: Klimbim
#26 British Soldier Receiving Painful Injection From A Nurse Along The Russian Front
Image credits: Klimbim
#27 Frida Kahlo In 1953 At The English Hospital
Image credits: Lorenzo-Folli
#28 Baby Cage, 1930s
Image credits: Angelina_retro
#29 Three Smoking Coal Breaker Boys, Pennsylvania, Between 1890 And 1910
Image credits: Lorenzo-Folli
#30 Ian Turner, Member Of The I.W.W. (Industrial Workers Of The World) At A Rally In Union Square, New York City, 11 April 1914
Image credits: reddit.com
