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Russian artist Olga Shirinina, better known by her nickname "Klimbim," is into colorizing old, vintage photos and freshening up history for all of us. She is primarily dedicated to the history of her motherland: she has colorized portraits of the Romanov family, personalities of the Russian Revolution, and the heroes of the Second World War. But that's not the only theme she likes.
This time, the theme of the Golden Age of Hollywood is in the limelight. The talented artist colors the black and white photos of actresses and actors of the bygone old Hollywood era of the early to mid-twentieth century.
More info: Facebook | klimbim2014.wordpress.com | klimbims.tumblr.com
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#1
Elizabeth Taylor
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#2
James Dean
Almost all big-hitting Hollywood stars of the era are on this list: the sex symbol Marilyn Monroe, the charming Elizabeth Taylor, the mysterious Audrey Hepburn, and so on.
And then there are the iconic dreamboats like Marlon Brando and James Dean. It's fair to say that it is quite a robust line-up.
But the credit shouldn't go to only the actors: Olga "Klimbim" Shirinina makes these icons bright again. Back then, almost everybody knew the names of these Hollywood stars. But now these historical photos require refreshment.
#3
Grace Kelly
#4
Audrey Hepburn
And surely enough, Olga refreshes our cultural memory quite remarkably. One could say she brings the pop back into these once-bright icons. Check them out yourself. And if you've become a newfound fan of Olga "Klimbim" Shirinina, just follow her photo restoration works on her social media.
#5
Marilyn Monroe
#6
Gene Tierney
Psst. Hey! Perhaps you're a fan of old photos revived, or you'd like to see more of what the "olden-days" really looked like? Or maybe you're just bored? Bored Panda has you covered. Colorized monumental, historic photos? Bang and bang. Our community isn't sleeping either, and they've made a fantastic contribution to this topic. There's Mario Unger, Joachim West, Sergey Produkin-Gorsky among others.
#7
Greta Garbo & Robert Taylor
Elizabeth Styles 5 years ago
This belongs in the top the colors make this photo come to life! Sure we have seen many portraits (esp. of Ms. Hepburn) but I personally appreciate better a whole room.
#9
Lauren Bacall
#10
Marilyn Monroe
Emma Dingle 5 years ago
The first evolution of that meme (idk what it's called but it's the one with the two ladies and the man) xD
#13
Audrey Hepburn
#14
Anita Ekberg
Boris Krivy 5 years ago
More beautiful than Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, but not by much.
#15
Audrey Hepburn
Tifferooski 5 years ago
Audrey would have played a good Tinker Bell, with blonde hair of course.
#16
Marlene Dietrich
PeachPossum 5 years ago
Trivia: Marlene Dietrich is the only actress ever inducted into the Makeup Artist's Guild. She always did her own makeup. Her nose was a bit crooked. To hide this defect, she drew a line down from the bridge to the tip with a silver pencil, then applied a light foundation over the top. The silver caught the light and made her nose look straight. She insisted that any direct light to her face was cast from above (often butterfly lighting) to accentuate her cheekbones.
#17
Elizabeth Taylor
#18
Rita Hayworth
Strawberry Hellcat 5 years ago
I wish she'd used a photo with the "Gilda" gown, but this is gorgeous too!
#19
Marilyn Monroe
Marky Mark 5 years ago
As a man I think: "great legs!". As a parent, I think: "put on some pants or you'll catch a cold".
#21
Jean Harlow
Bobby Sammons 5 years ago
Too bad she died at shuch and early age, 26, but death doesn't respect anyone.
#22
Audrey Hepburn
#23
Anita Ekberg
#24
Merle Oberon
PeachPossum 5 years ago (edited)
The artist is Gerald L. Brockhurst (British, 1890-1978): The work is Merle Oberon, 1937, which was sold at auction in 2018 to an unknown bidder. Hollywood actress Merle Oberon kept a number of secrets from both the producers and the public. She hid her East Indian and Maori ancestry out of fear she would be blacklisted. She claimed to have been born in Tasmania when she was in fact born in Bombay, India. Yet that was the least of her secrets. Merle's maternal grandmother Charlotte Selby gave birth to her daughter Constance at age 15. Constance gave birth to Merle at age 12. To hide the scandal, Charlotte passed Merle off as her own daughter. She gave her own partner's name as Merle's father. The identity of Merle's biological father is not known.
#25
Barbara Stanwyck
Boris Krivy 5 years ago
Looks much better in colour. I always thought she looked too hard in her b&w films.
#26
Rita Hayworth
#27
Audrey Hepburn
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What do you think ?
Dynein 5 years ago
Wow, these are REALLY well done, much better than other colorized photos I've seen. Could it be because others just overlay the black-and-white image with color? Which is clearly not what this artist did - a lot of the gray was apparently swapped with a color of similar brightness (and maybe overlayed with a fainter version of the grayscale image). That must have taken a good amount of skill and time. Worth it, though - the result is amazing!
Kenny Kulbiski 5 years ago
Enjoyed these but with a couple of exceptions they were different, not necessarily better. Kudos to the artist and also to the black and white photographers.
Lis Gentil 5 years ago
Incredible job well done. Personally, I always have a really hard time picturing B&W pictures in real life, so this was amazing. Wow.
Dynein 5 years ago
Wow, these are REALLY well done, much better than other colorized photos I've seen. Could it be because others just overlay the black-and-white image with color? Which is clearly not what this artist did - a lot of the gray was apparently swapped with a color of similar brightness (and maybe overlayed with a fainter version of the grayscale image). That must have taken a good amount of skill and time. Worth it, though - the result is amazing!
Kenny Kulbiski 5 years ago
Enjoyed these but with a couple of exceptions they were different, not necessarily better. Kudos to the artist and also to the black and white photographers.
Lis Gentil 5 years ago
Incredible job well done. Personally, I always have a really hard time picturing B&W pictures in real life, so this was amazing. Wow.
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