Colouring of monochrome photographs is nothing new. It was practised long before colour film became readily available. There is something is compelling about seeing old prints, and early footage turned into colour, especially when we have been so used viewing to similar images in monochrome throughout our lives.
Occasionally it can look false but, in the main, it brings to life old newsreels and old prints. Somehow, an old picture in colour looks more modern and dispels the drab impression we often have of the Victorian age or the early part of the last century.
Recently I’ve been watching the World War II in Colour series on Netflix. There is little there that I haven’t seen a dozen times before, particularly in the exceptional World at War series, but the colour transforms the viewing experience. Rather than seeming remote, the wartime action appears much nearer and less “another world” than it does in the original black and white.
Colouring of photographs and film footage is now assuming an art form and I was more than receptive to the work of Brazilian photographer Marina Amaral when I read about her forthcoming book, authored with historian Dan Jones, called The Colour of Time.
Billed as a “new history of the world, 1850-1960,” the tome will include 200 of Marina’s stunning images. Dan Jones has added a narrative that “anchors each image in its context and weaves them into a vivid account of the world that we live in today.”
You can find an impressive selection of Marina Amaral’s coloured photographs on her website here. The Colour of Time will be published in August and will cost £22 in hardcover or £7.19 as a Kindle electronic book. Orders can be placed here.
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It is good to see a colour image from the early years of my boss, and our very very Regal Queen, in colour and relaxing in style.
Like Chris below, I have mixed views about this, but it is nice to see a world revisited in a new technicolour. However it would be nice to see remastered monochrome images as well. That way reminding us of the originals.
Oddly I would love to see Rouke’s Drift photos in colour..
Sorry Mike, I don’t share your enthusiasm for colouring original monochrome works. The more cynical side of me suspects the hand of those looking to wring a few quid out of long forgotten images languishing in archives. One should enjoy the hushed beauty of those photographs made in monochrome not just colour them. Sadly, for me the comparison with colouring the work of Buster Keyton or Chaplin spring to mind. On a lighter note, I really enjoy your site but rarely comment. Cheers Chris Beards
Thanks, Chris and I am glad you like Macfilos. I suppose that “colorisation” is very much a matter of personal opinion. I too like to see the period shots in monochrome and it would sad if all we ever saw were coloured versions. What attracts me, though, is how the colour can bring old pictures to life and give us a better impression of what life was like a hundred or two hundred years ago.