Journeying through history often feels distant when peering at faded black and white photographs that seem to belong to another world.
The mind craves color, yearning for a connection that black and white imagery struggles to provide.
Adding color to photos used to be really hard before computers came along. People had to paint colors onto the photos, which took a lot of care and time.
But with computers, things changed. It’s still a lot of work, but it’s become much easier to do.
When artists work on these photos, they dig into old records to find out what colors things really were.
Sometimes, they have to guess, using their knowledge to make smart choices about the colors. The result is incredible. Streets, faces, and places that seemed far away suddenly look alive and real.
These colorized historical photos aren’t just pretty pictures. They’re like time machines, showing us what life was really like in the past.
They connect us to where we come from and make history feel like something happening right now, not just stories in books.
Coney Island, New York, 1905. Colorized by Dana Keller.
A small child with a puppy – Point Pleasant,West Virginia, 1943. Colorized by Paul Edwards.
Flipping Burgers, 1938. Colorized by Jordan J. Lloyd.
College students pile into a Volkswagen Beetle, 1965.
War Paint, 1944. Colorized by Dynamichrome.
Harlem News Boy, 1943. Colorized by Dynamichrome.
British tattoo artist George Burchett, the King of Tattooists, 1930. Colorized by Dana Keller.
Troops crouch inside a LCVP landing craft, just before landing on “Omaha” Beach on “D-Day”, 6 June 1944. Colorized my Manuel De L.
A German soldier after being captured by American troops near Nicosia, 1943.
Daredevil in 1917. Colorized by Jordan J. Lloyd.
World War II propaganda posters in Port Washington, New York, 1942.
Marilyn Monroe’s USO performance, February 1954. Colorized by Dana Keller.
Operation Overlord, June 1944. Colorized by Jordan J. Lloyd.
Coca-Cola vending point at the Helsinki Summer Olympics, 1952. Colorized by Laiz Kuczynski.
Miss America, 1924 – Ruth Malcomson.
Sidewheeler Tashmoo leaving wharf in Detroit, 1901. Colorized by Sanna Dullaway.
Titanic sinks on April 15, 1912. Newspaper boy Ned Parfett sells copies of the evening paper bearing news of the disaster. Colorized by Dana Keller.
Clam seller on Mulberry Bend, New York, 1900s. Colorized by Sanna Dullaway.
Women in witch costumes, 1875. Colorized by Laiz Kuczynski.
A Samurai, 1881. Colorized by Dynamichrome.
The Flatiron Building, 1905. Colorized by Sanna Dullaway.
Inventor and physicist Thomas Alva Edison. New Jersey, 1911. Colorized by Laiz Kuczynski.
A Nihang Bodyguard, c.1865.
Curb Market in NYC, ca 1900. Colorized by Sanna Dullaway.
Observer on Iwo Jima, 1945. Colorized by Dynamichrome.
Crowded Bunks in the Prison Camp at Buchenwald, April 1945.
18 year old Russian girl being liberated from Dachau, April 1945.
Romanov sisters, Grand Duchesses Maria, Olga, Anastasia, and Tatiana, 1910. Colorized by Dana Keller.
Manhattan at sunset from the George Washington Bridge, December 1936.
“Here lies an unknown English Lieutenant killed in air combat” – Western Desert, Egypt, 1941. Colorized by Laiz Kuczynski.
Mary Winsor, founder and president of the Limited Suffrage Society, holds a sign during the American suffrage movement; ca. 1910s.
Licking blocks of ice during the heat wave, NYC, 1912. Colorized by Sanna Dullaway.
Three soldiers looking for the enemy from the shelter of a rubble-filled shed somewhere in France during World War I, 1917.
Two girls, Jean and Charlotte Potter, sit at the beach with their dog, ca. 1910-1915. Colorized by Jared Enos.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Soccer legend Pele. Sao Paulo, 1958. Colorized by Laiz Kuczynski.
An Ojibwe Native American spearfishing, Minnesota, 1908. Colorized by Jared Enos.
Duck Dynasty, 1926. Colorized by Dynamichrome.
Film and fashion icon Audrey Hepburn, ca. 1953.
Baseball legend “Babe” Ruth, (ca. 1920), the year he joined the New York Yankees. Colorized by Dana Keller.
Cab stand in Madison Square Park, New York, ca 1900. Colorized by Sanna Dullaway.
Unemployed men outside Al Capone’s soup kitchen in Chicago during the Great Depression, 1931. Colorized by Dana Keller.
Jewish women and children arriving at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp, Poland, 1944. Colorized by Dana Keller.
(Photo credit: in captions / Wikimedia Commons).
