50 Historic Photos And The Stories Behind Them, Shared By The Instagram Page “History Colored”

We reached out to professional photographer, photo restorer and photo colorizer Jim Mathis to get some insight on photo coloring from an expert. We asked Jim what inspired him to get into photo colorizing, and he told us, "I have always loved black and white photography. I was a protégé of Ansel Adams and other famous B&W photographers. For 23 years I owned a custom black & white photo lab in Kansas City. But I was very much aware that not all images are better in black and white, and, in fact, color can be a very strong element of many photographs." 

"Before the invention of Kodachrome in 1936, if we wanted a color photo, it had to be hand colored. Artists who could paint over a B&W photo were in high demand for over a hundred years. The advantage of hand coloring is that we can use any colors we want, and we do not need to colorize the parts of the image that would be distracting if left in the original color," Jim told us.

Photo colorizing even ran in Jim's family. "My mother was a colorist that worked in a photo studio in the 1940s-50s, and I learned the technique from her at an early age. I have always enjoyed colorizing photos and making them special by using spot color or different colors."

We also asked Jim why seeing vintage photos in color is so captivating. "We are used to seeing older photographs as B&W, so adding color seems to bring them to life," he explained. "By its very nature B&W is abstract. The reality of color can be startling if we are used to seeing photos from a certain era only in shades of gray." 

Jim also broke down the process of photo colorizing for us a bit. "In the past, oil paint, colored charcoal, or colored pencils could be used to add color to a B&W photograph, just as if we were making a painting from 'scratch'. With a computer using Adobe Photoshop, we can duplicate that same process using brush tools, pencil tools, and so forth. The most recent versions of Photoshop use AI which can apply the colors almost automatically by analyzing the image and figuring out what colors things should be. This process is not 100% accurate and usually only gives an approximate color and only works on common subjects. For example, Photoshop might know that grass is green and the sky is blue, or what color flesh tones should be, but it doesn’t know what color a car is or what any object that could be any color should look like. Automated colorizing still requires a certain amount of color correction and adjustments. The big advantage of using a computer to colorize images is that multiple prints and sizes can be made. I sometimes convert a modern color digital photo to black & white and then colorize it to give a new look. Not relying on the original colors can be a very creative process."

Jim also wanted to add that, "Not all B&W images should be colorized, but if the original photographer would have used color film if it had been available, colorizing may be a good choice."

If you'd like to check out Jim's website, you can find it right here.

History in Color has grabbed the attention of many Instagram users since its creation. Through its sharing of over 3,400 photographs, the page has amassed nearly 900k followers. The owner of the page notes that they do not colorize the images themself, but they share photos they find and credit the original colorizers. From pictures of Marie Curie to planes in World War II, the page highlights some of the most fascinating moments in history that many of us have seen very few photos of, especially photos in color.

Colorizing photographs is not a new phenomenon, though. Sure, technological advances have made it much simpler, but artists were finding techniques to add color to photos all the way back in 1839. But colorizing at that time was a very lengthy process, as photos first needed to be taken, developed and printed before anyone could sit down and work on the color aspect. 

Once a photo was prepared to be colorized, an artist would begin the expensive and time consuming process. The first person known for colorizing photographs was Swiss painter Johann Baptist Isenring. He would apply acacia gum then hand paint pigments onto a picture to bring the image to life. And while hand coloring photos began in Europe, it was soon popularized in Japan. Inspired by the colorful wooden prints of landscapes that were common in Japan at that time, artists already had the skill set necessary to begin colorizing photographs. Over time, European and Japanese artists shared their innovations and constantly adapted to find the most effective methods.  

When it comes to restoring photographs, there are various techniques and tools used depending on the damage. Similarly for colorizing images, artists would choose the best method depending on what look they were going for. However, the main tools that every artist had on hand tended to be watercolors, dyes, oils, crayons and pastels. Oil paints were more common among Western artists while watercolors were more popular in Japan. But by the 1880s and 1890s, Japanese artists started working with aniline dyes as well, which created more vivid colors that might even be seen as too vibrant today.  

The painting was an extremely tedious process, with master colorists in Japan sometimes only finishing two or three photographs during a twelve-hour work day. Over time, studios began to expedite the process by employing more and more artists to create a production line. Every artist would be responsible for specific tasks, like a set range of colors, a particular area of each photo, or every person in an image. By the 1890s, prominent Japanese colorizing studios employed anywhere from 20-100 artists. This greatly increased their output and allowed Japan to establish its prominence in the field of photography colorization. 

As time passed, albumen prints and organic pigments that Japanese artists had traditionally used began to fade and become discolored due to too much exposure to light and pollutants. Photographers grew concerned as their clients became less willing to purchase photos that they knew wouldn’t stand the test of time, so artists continued to seek innovation and update their practices. One photographer, Tamamura Kozaburo, claimed in an ad in 1891, “My coloring has been pronounced by competent judges to be unsurpassed by any in this country [and because] I use only the best chemicals, my photographs are durable and do not fade.” Today, many of the Japanese hand-painted photographs that are on display in museums are still vibrant and beautifully colored, as they have been delicately maintained and protected from the elements.

Fast forward 100 years, and suddenly the digital age of colorization began. When it comes to more recent innovations, Adobe Photoshop was a game changer. After its release in 1991, hand-coloring became much less popular. Suddenly, artists could create separate color layers for each color in the photo and paint over the picture using virtual brushes. Photoshop allowed artists to adjust standard hues and saturation, color balance and opacity of each individual color, and because the image could constantly be edited, it was much easier to play around with colors before making permanent decisions. Various versions of any photo could be made as well. And of course, infinite prints could be made, so there was no longer a concern about how long the photographs would last.

Even more recently, AI technology has been used to colorize old photographs. The latest versions of Photoshop have AI technology built-in that analyzes a photo and compares it to millions of others online to add appropriate colors within seconds. While the photos tend to need more adjustments from artists following the initial AI coloring, the technology can save photoshoppers hours by giving them a huge head start. According to Jim Mathis, a professional photo restorer and colorizer, this AI technology is not a perfect fix, but about 90% of the time, it’s worth using. 

In recent years, there has been a bit of controversy around using AI exclusively to recolor historical photographs. Some people claim that it falsifies history by portraying photos in a light that we have no way of knowing is accurate. Data scientist Samuel Goree was skeptical of this AI technology, so he put it to the test himself. He used DeOldify, an AI colorization app, to convert a black and white version of Alfred T. Palmer’s famous 1943 photograph Operating a hand drill at Vultee Nashville back to color, and the photo that the app created featuring the black female subject with lighter skin than she had in reality.

Some people also disagree with AI colorization as it disregards the original artist’s intent. Photographers are usually extremely particular about their images, and allowing a computer to decide what they look like takes away some of their artistic freedom. For example, we all know how a filter can change the feeling an image conveys, as many of us use filters on Instagram all the time. But it’s important that when adding color to historical images, artists use care and precision. These photos tell stories about the past, and those stories should be told in an unbiased light. 

It’s fascinating to see these vintage photographs come to life with a bit of color. I find it easier to relate to these past events and figures when I can view them this way. While the coloring may not be 100% accurate, it can certainly enhance the experience of viewing these photos. We hope you enjoy the rest of this list, and don’t forget to upvote all of your favorite pictures. Then if you want to see even more History in Color, be sure to check out the Instagram page right here.