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Artist Colorizes 30 Old Photos, And It Might Change The Way You Perceive History
Interview With Artist
Keeping memories alive can be done in many ways, but photographs are probably one of the most common ones. Photos capture a moment in history, memory and serve as a reminder of how it used to be. However, really old photographs are in black and white, so it's often hard to relate to them and see yourself in that time.
That's where digital artist Sébastien de Oliveira comes in. Sébastien uses Photoshop to color old photographs and give them more life. The people in the photos look much more realistic and the pictures become so much more inviting.
Sébastien told Bored Panda: "Sébastien de Oliveira, French, father Portuguese and mother French, I live in Paris, married, two daughters. For my background, I studied in a school of fine art in Orléans, with my specialization in illustration and photography, then I moved to Milan where I lived for 7 years and worked as an illustrator for architects and as an assistant for a fashion illustrator. I moved to Paris 17 years ago to become a retoucher for the fashion industry."
More info: Instagram
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Mongoose Jones 5 years ago
I THINK this is Althea Gibbs the first great female Black tennis champion.
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Robert T 5 years ago
Intrigued as to what the metal band is between them. You can see the tyre and innertube and the wheel rim is still on the car behind them. I run innertubes on wire wheels on my classic (which is probably 30-40 years younger than this) and the tyre goes straight on the rim.
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Jennifer Hargett 5 years ago
OK, so I see here that D.C. traffic has always been insanely congested.
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Marie Peckham 5 years ago
I like the coloured version, and the way the posters come to life because of that use of colour. Grace Kelly is in the poster on the left, wonder if she posed with all these sun bathing girls?
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Csaba Hegedűs 5 years ago
When you come home from war after three years to see your one year old daughter :P
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Marie Peckham 5 years ago
I like the colour version. Loving this crowd photograph and the colour makes it live!
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Marie Peckham 5 years ago
Somehow the coloured version of this photo is more real. They all look exhausted poor guys.
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Giles McArdell 5 years ago
These men would rather play with their balls than watch a beautiful dancer.
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What do you think ?
GFSTaylor 5 years ago
I'm torn on these. I know some people find it easier to relate to images from the past if they see them in colour. It is a valuable reminder that the past was just as colourful as the present, not not literally sepia-toned. But it's easy to overcompensate. I feel the colours in these particular images are just a shade too intense. They look a little stylised, as though put through an instagram filter. And colourizing black and white movies is wrong. Those films were lit and composed to work in black and white. Adding colour loses the true beauty. If possible, try to see at least one black and white movie in the cinema, rather than on TV. No TV can ever reproduce the look of film on screen - you'll see why it's called the Silver Screen.
Agnes Jekyll 5 years ago
I prefer the black and white---but it's interesting to see what they might have looked like and he did a good job. He's not ruining any of these photos (I believe)because he's not colourizing originals. Many of these are famous, published photos. That said, I feel the same as you do about black and white films--they should never be colourized.
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Tara 5 years ago
What strikes me is how 'in shape' everyone is, at least compared to today's standards. Interesting how much the us population has changed
Gabby M 5 years ago
Well, also consider that the photographers likely wanted to photo people who were young and attractive, according to society's standards. Notice how there aren't many old people either.
Load More Replies...
GFSTaylor 5 years ago
I'm torn on these. I know some people find it easier to relate to images from the past if they see them in colour. It is a valuable reminder that the past was just as colourful as the present, not not literally sepia-toned. But it's easy to overcompensate. I feel the colours in these particular images are just a shade too intense. They look a little stylised, as though put through an instagram filter. And colourizing black and white movies is wrong. Those films were lit and composed to work in black and white. Adding colour loses the true beauty. If possible, try to see at least one black and white movie in the cinema, rather than on TV. No TV can ever reproduce the look of film on screen - you'll see why it's called the Silver Screen.
Agnes Jekyll 5 years ago
I prefer the black and white---but it's interesting to see what they might have looked like and he did a good job. He's not ruining any of these photos (I believe)because he's not colourizing originals. Many of these are famous, published photos. That said, I feel the same as you do about black and white films--they should never be colourized.
Load More Replies... Tara 5 years ago
What strikes me is how 'in shape' everyone is, at least compared to today's standards. Interesting how much the us population has changed
Gabby M 5 years ago
Well, also consider that the photographers likely wanted to photo people who were young and attractive, according to society's standards. Notice how there aren't many old people either.
Load More Replies... 
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