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[rex_dart]

Colorization of historical works, improvement or blasphemy?

Comments

[iamrosalita]

I don't object to the colorization, but there's a beauty to black and white photos that I don't get from the colorized versions.

[popehippo]

I didn't have a strong reaction until I hit the Gettysburg one. We've all grown up with black and white battlefield photos from old wars, but to see them in color is definitely a shock. It adds to the reality that these were people, real people, who lived in a world that had the same colors and such as the rest of us.

Also, the tone really changes in the photo of the unemployment line. There is a sudden contrast between the dark colors of the people below the bright and cheerful sign, it adds a huge emotional tone of optimism versus reality to the look of it.

I think they're beautiful, tbh. They're not better, but they allow us a different perspective and different emotional reactions.

[suedeheadspike]

I agree with this so much.

I've seen that photo of Anne Frank countless times. I suspect most of us have. Seeing it in color, though? At the risk of sounding like a philistine, I must confess that her smile hit me much harder than it ever has before.

(which isn't to say I think it's better... just... a different and perfectly valid perspective, in my opinion)

[jasonbeast]

Yeah, same here, I actually jumped a little when I scrolled down to that picture of Anne Frank.

[mirhanda]

It makes it feel more real to me. It's like when I see the old black and white pictures, it feels like something from "long ago" but the color pictures feel more like "the real world." I don't know how to explain it. Its definitely a more visceral reaction though.

[anolinde]

I think that's really cool, tbh.

[rex_dart]

I believe that on the original Reddit thread she posted these in (which should be linked from MSNBC, or you can google to find it, I was looking at it last night), she discusses a bit more about her process and things like how she makes her color decisions.

[schexyschteve]

I like the colorization. I agree that anything that makes it more real is a plus. I think these could be an incredibly useful tool in classrooms.

[redstar826]

it would be great for museum displays as well