Some colors will simply not work on certain shades of grey, and you begin to be able to interpret that.'īelow is one of Dana's colorized images - one that was very difficult to pull off as it is an action pic. After some practice though, you begin to recognize the different shades of grey and what their corresponding colors might be. 'But much of the time, there isn't much to go on, and some educated guessing is required. I do research as much as possible when seeking the proper colors of military uniforms, for example, or the color of a sign or company logo,' explains Dana. In order to do that, the colors have to be accurate. 'My goal by adding color is to bring the viewer a little closer to the reality in which these photos were taken. Dana undertakes historical research to attempt to guess which tones people may have been wearing. It is not simply a question of choosing colours on a whim. The 1937 Hindenburg disaster is one moment in history that Dana has colorized For example, what would Abraham Lincoln or the Hindenburg disaster have looked like to the photographer at that moment in time? I think there is an element of detachment that we have from historic black and white images, as if they are only shadows depicting a time too long ago for any of us to truly remember,' says Dana. 'Well, when I first began to practice colorizing photos, I chose ones that made me wonder what these pieces of history would look like in real life. His motivation is what one would expect: trying to show us what we would have seen had we been standing behind the lens in the 19th Century and early 20th Century, citing two historical figures whose black & white photos he has worked on.

I spoke to a member of Colorized History, Dana Keller who has earned praise for his colorized images. So how do you colorize a black & white photo and what are the technical challenges invovled? But that should not take away from the enormous difficulties involved in carrying out their task - both from a technical and historical perspective. The work of the 20 or so approved submitters is fantastic to say the least, bringing old photos to life.

One group of people that attempt to literally shed light on black & white photos exist on Reddit, under the name Colorized History. That has not stopped people from trying to bridge that colour gap and allow us to see the myriad tones and hues of yesteryear.

Colorize black and white photo