Historical Pictures Remastered In Color, Bringing The Past Back To Life

These pictures will completely change how you view the past

Kylin

• Published in Interesting
• July 26, 2022

In the last few decades, we’ve grown not only accustomed but heavily reliant on smartphones, and instant access to a camera with editing apps at our fingertips. But of course, it wasn’t always this way.

Photography and film have come a long way to be readily available in our pockets. Before digital cameras, disposable cameras, polaroid cameras, and more, photography and pictures started with very humble beginnings.

They were only able to provide black and white photographs, some grainy, or blurry if the subject moved at the last moment. And while these vintage photos are objectively beautiful, there’s something intriguing and special about being able to see these old photos in color.

With the technology we have available today, artists have been able to remaster these historical black and white photos. Adding color to these photographs seems to bring them to life again, and gives us a deeper understanding and relation to the past.

And of course, these remastered photographers are shared online! One of the best places to see colorized vintage photos in one place is on Instagram, thanks to History in Color.

We searched through History in Color’s feed to collect some of the most enchanting and interesting photos to share with you below. Keep scrolling to see more.

1. Rench Painter Claude Monet Photographed In His Garden In Giverny, France In 1899

2. A Japanese couple taking a self portrait together in c. 1920.

3. A Boy Sitting In The Wreckage Of A Building Shortly After A Bombing Raid Of London, England During World War 2. Photograph Was Taken In January 1945.

4. Nicoli (Pix-On-Che-La-Hoit) Of The Native American Salish Peoples Photographed By Edward H. Boos On The Flathead Indian Reservation, Western Montana In C.1905

5. A Young Soldier Of The Austro-Hungarian Army Standing On The Bridge Of Sighs, A Bridge Connecting Tunnels Inside The Marmolada Glacier. Photograph Taken On The 25 September 1917

6. A Portrait Of Two Whistles (Ishichoshtupsh) Of The Crow People (Apsáalooke) Photographed By Edward S. Curtis In 1908

7. Dutch Resistance Fighters Photographed Celebrating The Liberation Of The City Of Breda, The Netherlands, By The Polish 1st Armored Division On The 29th October 1944

8. Viljo Valter Suokas, Knight Of The Mannerheim Cross (The Most Distinguished Finnish Military Honor), Photographed At A Field Hospital After Being Wounded In December 1941

9. An Italian Boy Giving Flowers To An American Soldier Whose Tank Had Stopped On The Edge Of Rome, Italy In June 1944

10. Russian Revolutionary Leon Trotsky (Right), Mexican Artist Frida Kahlo (Center), And Revolutionary And Wife Of Trotsky Natalia Sedova, Photographed Together In Mexico In 1937

11. The Oldest Surviving Photograph Ever, Taken In C. 1826

By Joseph Nicéphore Niépce from a window on his estate 'Le Gras' in Saint-Loup-de-Varennes, France. In the photograph, you can see some buildings on his estate and the surrounding countryside. 

12. A French Boy Running Down A Street With A Baguette Photographed By French Photographer Willy Ronis In 1952

13. Wall Street In New York City Photographed On The 7 November 1918

Showing citizens celebrating the end of the First World War four days before the official declaration after news that an armistice was to be signed spread throughout the city.

14. A Native American, Belonging To The Ojibwe People, Spear Fishing In A Lake Somewhere In Minnesota, United States. Photograph Taken In 1908

15. Women Delivering Ice From A Truck On An Ice Route On The 16 September 1918.

This job was previously only done by men but due to the war, women were recruited. Shortly after the end of the First World War, the natural ice trade began to be overtaken by production of ice through refrigeration cooling systems and plant ice. 

16. Hawaiian Surfer, Charles Kauha, Carrying An Alaia, A Surfboard Ridden In Pre-20th Century Hawaii, At Waikiki Beach In 1898

17. Robin Williams Before He Was Famous, Dressed As A Mime In Central Park, New York, In 1974

18. Two Photographs Of Evgeny Stepanovich Kobytev, A Soviet Soldier, Taken 4 Years Apart. The First Image, On The Left, Was Taken The Day He Went To Fight In The War, Age 30 In June 1941, And The Photograph On The Right Was Taken When He Returned From The War In 1945

19. Iconic Spanish Civil War Photograph Taken By Juan Guzmán Of 17-Year-Old Marina Ginestà With An M1916 Spanish Mauser Rifle Overlooking Barcelona On The 21 July 1936 During The 1936 Military Uprising In Barcelona

20. Jewish Families In Amsterdam, The Netherlands Being Forced To Leave Their Homes In May/June 1943 And Assemble For Deportation To Concentration Camps

21. The Interior Of A Commercial Plane In 1936.

The plane belonged to Imperial Airways, the first British commercial airline. 

22. Wo Apsaroke Native Americans On Horseback Outside Of A Tipi In A Snow-Covered Forest In Montana In 1908

23. An 81-Year-Old Nikola Tesla

A Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist who is best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. Photograph taken in 1937.

24. A Crowded Beach In Atlantic City Photographed In 1908

25. The Famous Photo Of The Migrant Mother Taken By Dorothea Lange Showing 32-Year-Old Mother Florence Owens Thompson At A Pea Picker Camp Where The Crops Had Died Due To Frost.

26. Norwegian Painter, Wilhelm Otto Peters, Working On His Painting “Digging For Worms” In Nesseby, Finnmark, In 1884

27. A Navajo Man Photographed In C. 1904 Dressed As Nayenezgáni, A Mythical Hero From Navajo Mythology Who, Along With His Brother Tobadzischini, Rid The World Of The Anaye (Monsters From Navajo Mythology)

28. President Of The United States, Abraham Lincoln, Photographed At The Age Of 56 On The 5 February 1865

A month before his second inauguration, and 2 months before his assassination.

29. Charlotte And Marjorie Collyer, Survivors Of The Sinking Of The Titanic Which Took Place In April 1912.

They were 2nd class passengers on the ship and Charlotte’s husband/Marjorie’s father, Harvey Collyer, died in the disaster. Photo taken in June 1912. 

30. Martin Luther King Jr. And Ralph Abernathy Riding On The First Desegregated Bus In Montgomery, Alabama In December 1956

31. The Cast Of Star Wars Out Of Costume In C. 1977.

From Left To Right: Harrison Ford (Han Solo), David Prowse (Darth Vader), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Kenny Baker (R2-D2), And Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker)

32. Jesse Owens, American Track And Field Athlete And Four-Time Gold Medalist, Salutes During The Presentation Of His Gold Medal For The Long Jump, After Defeating Nazi Germany’s Luz Long During The 1936 Summer Olympics In Berlin, Germany

33. Photograph Of The Hindenburg Disaster On The 6 May 1937.

This was when the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast at Naval Air Station Lakehurst.

34. Photographer Michael Nash Using A Backdrop To Hide Buildings Damaged During World War II While Photographing A Woman In Warsaw, Poland In November 1946

35. Paulette Goddard And Charlie Chaplin (Dressed As His Famous Character The Tramp) Photographed In 1936 Resting On The Set Of The Silent Film Modern Times

36. Chief John Smith A.k.a. White Wolf, Reportedly The Oldest Native American To Ever Live (137-Years-Old), Photographed In C. 1920.

White Wolf’s true age at his death is often disputed.

37. British Veteran Of The Napoleonic Wars And His Wife Sitting For A Photograph In The 1860s.

This veteran served in the Peninsular War which took place from 1807 to 1814 and saw Bourbon Spain assisted by Great Britain against the First French Empire for control of the Iberian Peninsula. 

38. Future Queen Elizabeth II Of The United Kingdom Photographed At The Age Of 19 In 1945 Serving As An Ambulance Driver For The Auxiliary Territorial Service During World War II

39. British Socialite And Suffragist, Lady Norman, Photographed On Her Autoped In C. 1916.

The autoped early motorized scooter manufactured by the Autoped Company of Long Island City, New York from 1915 to 1922. 

40. A Navajo Man Photographed In C. 1904 Dressed As Tó Neinilii, The Rain God Of The Navajo People, A Deity Given To Having Fun And Playing Tricks

41. Louis Armstrong Playing The Trumpet For His Wife Lucille In Front Of The Great Sphinx Of Giza In Greater Cairo, Egypt, In 1961

42. People At Daytona Beach In Flordia, United States In 1904

43. A Woman Posting A Letter In A Postbox Amongst Destroyed Buildings And Rubble Caused By German Air Raids During World War II. Photograph Taken In London, United Kingdom In 1940

44. Four Women Photographed Outside A House In The Slums Of Amsterdam, The Netherlands In 1899.

The photograph was taken by the Health Service in preparation for an uninhabitable declaration. 

45. The Train Wreck At Montparnasse Station In Paris, France On The 22 October 1895.

The train overran a buffer stop and smashed through a window due to the driver approaching the station at too fast a speed. Surprisingly, there was only 1 death as a result of this disaster, a woman outside the station was killed by falling masonry. 

46. Mercury Train Photographed In 1936.

Mercury was the name used by the New York Central Railroad for a family of daytime streamliner passenger trains operating between midwestern cities. The Mercury’s started operating in 1936 and lasted until 1959.

47. Wooden Leg (Kâhamâxéveóhtáhe), Photographed Holding A Rifle At Northern Cheyenne Reservation, Montana In 1927

48. A Street Car Conductor Not Allowing Passengers Aboard Without Wearing A Mask During The Spanish Flu Pandemic. Photograph Taken In Seattle, Washington, USA In 1918

49. Photograph Of The Oldest House In Hamburg, Germany Taken In 1898.

 It was built in 1524 and, despite protests from locals, was demolished on the 8 December 1910.

50. Royal Navy Stoker With 21 Years Service Nicknamed “Popeye”, Photographed On Board The Hms Rodney In September 1940

51. Chief Bone Necklace Of The Oglala Lakota Native Americans Photographed In 1899

While the owner of the History in Color Instagram page does not colorize the images themselves, they credit the original artists who did the time-consuming work in each post. And surprisingly, colorizing photographs isn’t a new thing, artists have been finding ways to add color to photos as far back as 1839.

If you enjoyed this list, be sure to share it with a friend. And you can see more on Instagram.

Kylin