[Pics] Unbelievable Colorization Of Black And White Iconic Images

[Pics] Unbelievable Colorization Of Black And White Iconic Images

Some of the most iconic black and white images of our time, shown colorized by Sanna Dullaway, gives us a glimpse into how these images would have looked had they been taken in full color.

At first, I was just expecting another plain old restoration job. Then I started to scroll down through the set and I immediately realized how amazing these were. The thought of 'yeah I could do that' immediately dwindled away as I realized the sheer artistry involved in getting these to look as beautiful as they are. I immediately knew these were special.

Are they better in color or left in black and white? Which ones did you find better in color? 

Sent in via [Tegan Jae] via [Reddit]

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33 Comments

Surprisingly I preferred most of them in colour.  They are all really well done.  A fascinating project.

wow!!!

Black and white is nice but the color really just brings it all back to life.  Its almost as if they were never before seen pictures.  Whole different set of emotions.  Very nicely done.

Totally agree.

color just add so much more dimension

Normally I am on the side of the original film.  I am such a purist, but dang.  I do really like some of these images

When I originally saw the title to her work, I questioned whether or not film should even be modified to this degree, especially with such iconic imagery. Then I actually saw the images and my opinion flipped immediately as well. 

I was impressed but not gripped really by any of them. That is, until the one of the burning monk. My eyes about popped out of my skull because of how much more emotion the color brought to the image.

That's the one that got me as well!

Wow, these are amazing!  I love how they dont' look fake but rather.... if I hadn't seen the original before I'd have no way of knowing they were colorized!

The Einstein and Churchill ones are pretty special.

There's no way like the "American Way"
The "Double Standard Way"

I find it fascinating that most of these images work quite well considering that B+W photography doesn't always translate to color (& vice versa) well.  Just goes to show that proper composition, light & exposure can make virtually any image work with color or without.  Very cool!

Wrong answer.

No credit to reddit?

Thank you Jesus! I had a friend send me that imgur.com link to me so I wasn't sure it was from Reddit at all. I went back and credited reddit in the post. 

Why would you credit an aggregator? Extra level of indirection that isn't related to the content.

Because that's where it was originally posted. Not all of Reddit's content is aggregated, a lot is where it was first posted. 

W O W ! ! ! 

Colour surprisingly is better!

On the whole, I think it's incredible.   There are a couple of odd colour choices which I find a little distracting, and the one with the sign, definitely works better in B&W because in colour it's too distracting, but it's incredible work!

Many of these images are better, and more timeless in black and white, but none the less Sanna does an incredible job restoring these.

I'd imagine at least 3-10 hours per image, if not much much more for some of the more detail oriented ones.

Color does make the images feel more "modern" versus the timelessness of black and white.  Can't make a preferential determination. 

nice!

I like both the B & W and color but the Lincoln image moves him out of the history books. Suddenly he's not an icon but an older man. An older man with the weight of the world clearly on his shoulders.

incredible.

as  a photoprinter the b/w always had a flavor of authenticity and finality, mayb because I'm from the color generation. The work now seems to have a enduring statement and soul especially the monk and the Nick ut photo of the head shot. I'd hate to see the other vietnam photo of the little girl running from the nepalm bomb attack on her villiage.....You've brought my favorite president back to life! great work!

as a photoprinter the b/w always had a flavor of authenticity and finality, mayb because I'm from the color generation. The work now seems to have a enduring statement and soul especially the monk and the Nick ut photo of the head shot. I'd hate to see the other vietnam photo of the little girl running from the nepalm bomb attack on her villiage.....You've brought my favorite president back to life! great work!

Amazing ,the color really humanizes the images ,brings a reality that maybe was lost in the black and white,well done

Interesting viewing, but my historian wife working on her PhD says: "If you change how Lincoln looked, you change his experience of the civil war. Historians have learned about his stress through the images that have been captured during the four years of his presidency because he aged so dramatically." She is worried that in 200 years people may use this as a judgement regarding our culture and the plasticization of our history. "We want everything to be perfect instead of real. This is the origins of myth."

agree with your wife.
Some things are ment to be B&W :)

Very nice wor, I would love to see her in and the process at work.

How do you know what the right colours are, for example how do you know einsteins jumper was blue not green, is there a trick to working it out, for less obvious colours.