Nowadays, we carry some sort of photography equipment with us every day, and even the worst phone camera is way more advanced than the ones used in the 1900s. To revive those vintage black-and-white images, Sebastien de Oliveira has been colorizing them and giving them new appeal and interest.
Previously, Sebastien shared a bit about the complexities of his colorizing technique: “Let’s say that I observe a lot how the light works on objects—the reflections, the transparency, the temperature of the light—and all the different interactions between them, and I've found a technical way to reproduce them. The system involves colorizing not only each different object but also the different grays that compose each object."
We can only wonder what the future generation will do to update our photos to make them feel more alive, but for now, let's take a look at the colors hiding behind the photos of the past.
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#1 Amelia Earhart With Her Cord 812 Phaeton Car And Her Lockheed Airplane, 1937
Image credits: sebcolorisation
Bored Panda once again reached out to Sebastien, who kindly answered our questions about colorizing vintage photos.
Sebastien shared what inspired him to specialize in this craft, considering the enduring popularity of black-and-white photography. “I will always love the black and white photography, I practiced the print in my youth and I loved it. I discovered the fascination of colorization late in my life and what is so addictive for me is the time-traveling effect, how a colorized photo can make you live the experience of observing an image in a different way, closer to our own lives. I love the challenge of finding harmony between the choices of colors, the lighting effects, and the interaction between the colors. The game is infinite,” wrote the artist.
#2 Actress Clara Bow Photographed In 1927
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#3 Three Women Eating Spaghetti On Inflatable Mattresses At Capri, 1939. Photographed By Hamilton Wright
Image credits: sebcolorisation
Sebastien also described his creative process when approaching a new project like colorizing images from the 1924 Olympic Games for his recent book and exhibition.
“My book is about Paris in the twenties and I must say that I took it as a challenge because my favorite period of time for coloring was the ’40s or the ’50s. My first book Back to America was all about the saturation of the technicolor and sometimes the exaggeration of vivid colors. For the second and for the Olympic Games project, I needed to change my color chart. I had less references for my own town than for the American images! I had to adapt my color palette to this era. I calmed down the saturation and found some more subtle ways to colorize. Maybe more realistic but without betraying my love for vivid colors,” explained Sebastien.
#4 A Young Girl Read A Comic Book At A Supermarket, Anchorage, Alaska, 1958
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#5 James Stewart On The Phone At His Father’s Hardware Store, 1945. Photographed By Peter Stackpole
Image credits: sebcolorisation
Sebastien also commented on the topic of ensuring historical accuracy while adding color to old photographs.
He wrote: “I would not say that I search for historical accuracy because it is quite a vain search, I prefer the concept of credibility, I make choices trying to give you the impression that it was the right one. I looked at the autochromes in particular, searching for inspiration, as well as paintings and drawings from the period. It is difficult to find confirmation of a choice, what you find is more a range of possibilities but you always need to assume your choices.”
#6 1947 Ford Bubble Glass Top
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#7 Sunset On The Place De La Concorde, Paris, 1960
Image credits: sebcolorisation
We were wondering what challenges Sebastien has faced in digitally enhancing these vintage images, and how he overcomes them to maintain the integrity of the original photographs.
“The bigger job in the process can be to clean and restore the old images before beginning to colorize them, it gives me plenty of time to think about the colors. The second biggest challenge is to choose the color of the clothes because it’s the main interrogation we can find. A crowd will be more difficult but maybe only because it will be longer to work on,” wrote Sebastien.
#8 Traffic Officer Ticketing A Badly Parked Car On The Champs Elysées, Paris. Photographed In 1960
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#9 Civil Air Patrol Student, Taking A Sunbath At The Silver Lake Airfield, Baker California, 1944
Image credits: sebcolorisation
Sebastien’s work often bridges the gap between artistry and historical preservation. We asked the artist to share how he balances artistic interpretation with the need to respect the authenticity of the original scenes he colorizes.
“I give myself a lot of freedom working on images as I can crop some parts or change the contrast of the black and white images, I think of the image as a raw material I can work as I want because the result will be my own interpretation, my version of the original, as someone can make a film from a book and feel free to change some parts.
I don’t consider my colorized photo better as the original, the original is still available and I didn’t replace the original with my version. So I prefer thinking of my colorization as a reconstruction of a certain reality and, because I see them also as paintings, I want them to be seen also as an art piece. The balance between the artistic and the credibility as color photo is something challenging to achieve, I am always trying new ways to find it.”
#10 No Caption Found For This Group Of 14 Teenagers Photographed In The 40’s
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#11 November 1942, Photographed By Marjory Collins
"Lititz, Pennsylvania. Small Town In Wartime. Mrs. Julian Bachman At Home With Her Family. She’s Twenty-Three, Has Been Married One Year, And Works At The Animal Trap Company From 7 To 4. Her Husband Is In Officer Candidate School Of The U.S. Army Air Corps In Kentucky, So She Lives With Her Parents. Her Brother Is Sixteen And In High School."
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#12 June 1922. Spectators At The Brooklands Racing Circuit, Surrey, (UK)
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#13 Chidren From Detroit, Michigan. Photographed By John Vachon. August 1942
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#14 Rochester, New York. “Mr. Babcock Tuning In For War News.” September 1942 Photo By Ralph Amdursky
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#15 November 22, 1963
"Overview of crowds of people waving as President John F. Kennedy and his wife sit in the back of the limousine during the procession through downtown Dallas, Texas; Texas governor John Connally and his wife ride in the limousine’s jump seats"
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#16 Florette Reading On The Annecy Lake, 1943. Photographed By Jacques Henri Lartigue
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#17 Ava Gardner Photographed In 1948
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#18 Essex Street And Henry Street, Lower East Side, New York City Photographed By Marion Trikosko The 4th November 1959
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#19 Rita Hayworth, Photographed In 1941 By George Hurrel
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#20 Al Anderson And Ot Huston, 1910, Photographed By Lora Webb Nichols
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#21 September 1941. Yakima, Washington. “Migratory Agricultural Workers In Shack Towns, Tents, And Trailers. Boys Looking For Work Wait For The Washington State Employment Service Office To Open In The Morning.” Photo By Russell Lee For The Farm Security Administration
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#22 Carol Van Aken Snacking Pickles And Coca Cola Between Meals In Tallahassee, Florida. 1957
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#23 Preparing For The Landing, 1944
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#24 Sinclair Gasoline Station At Night, San Augustine, Texas. Photographed By Russell Lee In April 1939
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#25 Dorothy Lamour In 1939. Photographed By Everett
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#26 A Couple In Formal Evening Wear Pose For A Fashion Shoot At Night In New York’s Times Square, 1959
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#27 The Day After, 2nd Infantry Division, E-1 Draw, Easy Red Sector, Omaha Beach, D+1, June 7, 1944
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#28 Oldsmobile Touring Car, San Francisco, Photographed In 1920
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#29 Nevada Test Site Forces Relaxing On A Military Leave In Las Vegas, Photographed In 1950
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#30 Oldsmobile Coupe, 1928
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#31 Having Fun At The Gas Station, 1940
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#32 Kennett, Dunklin County, Missouri. Courthouse Square, Photographed By Arthur Rothstein In July 1942
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#33 Street Scene And Movie Theater, Lancaster, Ohio, USA,, August 1938 Photographed By Ben Shahn
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#34 September 1952. “Man In An Airport Control Tower Looking At Radar Screen.” Photographed By Phillip Harrington
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#35 Lititz Springs Pretzel Company Lewis C.haines Owner And His Son Bob. Lititz, Pennsylvania. Photographed By Marjory Collins In November 1942
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#36 A Young Liza Minelli Helps Herself To Some Christmas Treats At A Children’s Party. 1947
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#37 Lauren Bacall And Humphrey Bogart Photographed In 1947
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#38 Steve Macqueen Get Into His Corvette Stingray. Photographed In 1966
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#39 Carrie Fisher And Anthony Daniels Dancing During Production Of The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#40 Boys Playing Water Basketball In Frog Pond. Boston Common Circa 1920. Photographer Unknown
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#41 Workers At A Carbon Black Plant. Sunday, Texas. Photographed In November 1942 By John Vachon
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#42 California State Automobile Association Official Mechanical, First Aid And Towing Service Station, Northern California, 1927
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#43 A Young Woman Talks To Her Boy Friend After Her Evening’s Work As A Cinema Usherette. Photographed By Bert Hardy, Engand, 1954
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#44 Passengers Having A Sunbath On The Wings Of The Plane. All Aboard The Incredible Flying Yacht, Circa 1950
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#45 Sentry Posted Outside Of House Chamber, U.S. Capitol, East Front. Washington, D.c., 1942. Office Of War Information
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#46 Patriotic Girl From 1924
Image credits: sebcolorisation
#47 Dorothy Malone And Robert Stack In The Film “The Tarnished Angels” By Douglas Sirk, 1958
Image credits: sebcolorisation
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