“Black and white” is such a strong indicator of how old a pic is that our brains basically interpret anything in those monochrome colors as “from a long time ago.” However, people out there have been hard at work “colorizing” old images to show what things may have actually looked like.
So we’ve gathered some of the coolest colored old photos from these dedicated Instagram pages. Get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section down below.
More info: Coloursofyesterday | Coloredhistoryrepublic
#1 Photographer Per Elis Edhlund With His Daughter, Tyra Edhlund, Photographed In C. 1910
#2 An Old Fisherman Photographed In Bergen, Norway In 1902
#3 Albert Einstein And Charlie Chaplin Attend The Premiere Of Chaplin’s Latest Film “City Lights” In Los Angeles, United States On The 2 February 1931
Turns out colorizing old photographs is a much older art than most people realize, and it did not start with a computer. Back in the 1840s, when daguerreotypes and tintypes were the only game in town, studio artists were already dabbing tiny brushes loaded with powdered pigments onto portraits, adding a pink flush to cheeks or a soft blue to a dress.
This was known as hand coloring and it was widespread before color film ever existed. For families who wanted something more lifelike than gray tones, this was often the only option available, and it stayed popular well into the twentieth century through photo studios that offered hand tinted portraits as a standard service.
#4 Members Of The Bethune-Cookman College Football Team. Photograph Taken In Daytona Beach, Florida, United States In January 1943
#5 Piazza Maggiore In Bologna, Italy On Christmas Day 25 December 1950
#6 French Aviator Roland Garros Photographed Standing In Front Of A Demoiselle Airplane In 1910
That approach eventually evolved into oil based tinting, where colorists used transparent dyes on glossy prints, then it evolved again once digital tools entered the picture. When Photoshop showed up in 1991, artists realized the same layering logic from analog tinting could be recreated with color layers, brushes, and adjustments like hue and saturation.
#7 Three People Playfully Posing For A Photograph In Front Of Villa Solhem In Helsinki, Finland In 1917
#8 Here Charlie Chaplin Is Photographed With Winston Churchill On The Set Of The Film “City Lights” In The United States On The 24 September 1929
#9 5ft 8in (1.73m) Showman Pete Collins (Left) Walking Alongside 7ft 9.5in (2.37m) Albert Johan Kramer (Center) And Kramer’s Brother-In-Law 3ft 6in (1.07m) Josef Fassler (Right) In London, England In C. 1935
Suddenly a colorist could tweak an image endlessly without ruining the original print. This digital shift made the whole process faster and far more forgiving, though it still relied entirely on a human eye and a whole lot of patience. The real game changer showed up more recently, and it came from artificial intelligence rather than an artist’s steady hand.
#10 An Ostrich Jockey On The Streets Of Brussels, Belgium Photographed In 1933
#11 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
#12 Veteran Of The American Revolutionary War, Jonathan Smith. He Fought In The Battle Of Long Island Which Took Place In August 1776
Neural networks trained on millions of color photographs learned to recognize patterns the same way a person would, picking out skin, foliage, fabric, sky, and countless other textures, then predicting what colors those elements probably had.
#13 Sergeant Franklin Williams, Home On Leave From Army Duty, With His Girlfriend Ellen Hardin, Sharing An Ice Cream, Photographed By Arthur Rothstein In Baltimore, Maryland In March 1942
#14 A Boy Watches Television Through The Window Of An Appliance Store In Erie, Pennsylvania In 1948
#15 People Looking Out From The Crown Of The Statue Of Liberty Photographed By Margaret Bourke-White From A Helicopter In 1952
In simple terms, one part of the system tries to add believable color while another part critiques the result, and the two go back and forth until the output looks convincing. It is a strange little rivalry happening entirely inside a computer, and it is responsible for a lot of the colorized photos floating around the internet today.
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#16 A Woman Driving A Sports Car Around Hollywood, Los Angeles, California With Thor The Great Dane Riding In The Passenger Seat. Photographed In 1961 By Ralph Crane
#17 Two Sami Men Steering A Small Boat On The Lake Stora Lulevatten In Northern Sweden. Photograph Taken By Anders Beer Wilse In 1916
#18 Dutch Skipper Jan Bijl, Wearing His Oil Suit And Sou’wester Hat, Posing In Front Of His Self-Righting Knzhrm Lifeboat. Photograph Taken In 1915
Here is the part that might surprise you though. Even with all that computing power, AI colorization is still mostly educated guesswork. A neural network has no idea what color a specific soldier’s uniform actually was or what shade of red a particular vintage car came in. It only knows what colors tend to show up in similar looking objects across its training data.
#19 Train Of The Mount Washington Cog Railway Dropping Off/Picking Passengers Up At The Base Station In The White Mountains Mountain Range In New Hampshire, United States. Photo Taken In C. 1906
#20 Children In Paris, France Waving A French, American, And Union Flag To Celebrate The Signing Of The Armistice Marking An End To The First World War. Photograph Taken On 11 November 1918
#21 People Crowded Around A Screen Set Up On The Streets Showing The Mickey Mouse Cartoon “The Barnyard Battle” In London, England On The 26 February 1931
That is exactly why the best colorizers, human and AI assisted alike, do actual historical research before finalizing an image. They dig into old catalogs, uniform regulations, painted portraits from the same era, and even surviving fabric samples to nail down colors that are historically accurate rather than just visually pleasing. Skipping that step is how you end up with a Victorian gentleman wearing a shade of purple that did not exist yet or a 1920s car painted a color no factory ever produced.
#22 Photograph Of People Walking On The Street Tweede Weteringplantsoen In Amsterdam, The Netherlands In 1902
#23 The Re-Discovery Of Edouard Manet’s Painting ‘In The Conservatory’ By Us Soldiers During The Second World War After It Was Moved From The German National Gallery To A Salt Mine Located In Merkers-Kieselbach, Germany, To Protect It From Bomb Damage. Photograph Taken In 1945
#24 Nikola Tesla Looking Out From His Laboratory In Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States In 1899
Restoration usually comes first too. Scratches, faded patches, and torn corners get cleaned up before any color gets added, since feeding a damaged image into a colorization tool tends to produce messy, unnatural results. Once the photo is repaired, colorists layer in tones gradually, often comparing their work against known color photographs from the same period or region to keep things believable.
#25 General Ulysses S. Grant Photographed In C. 1865
#26 An “Aircraft Listener” Photographed In The 1920s Using Scoop-Shaped Reflectors To Direct The Sound Into Large-Diameter Tubes In Order To Try And Locate Aircraft At A Distance Due To Their Loud Engines. This Technology Was Used To Identify The Location Of Aircraft Prior To The Use Of Radar Technology
#27 American Aviation Pioneer, Amelia Earhart In 1932
Even lighting matters here, since a black and white photo taken in harsh midday sun needs different color choices than one taken indoors under soft lamp light. What makes colorized photos so captivating is that they collapse the emotional distance we naturally feel toward old black and white images. A grainy gray photo can feel like ancient history, almost fictional, while the same image in color suddenly feels like it could have been taken last week. Suddenly the past does not look so distant.
#28 Us Army Soldier Sgt. Vincent J. Crivello Of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Photographed Eating ‘Gelato Al Limone’ At A Sidewalk Café While Getting Acquainted With Three Italian Relatives He Discovered Following The Successful Allied Invasion Of Sicily. Photograph Taken By Nick Parrino In Palermo, Sicily, Italy In September 1943
#29 Sunday Morning Street Scene In Front Of Mcgill’s Fish Market And Fann Lunchroom On Pine Street And 2nd Avenue In Daytona Beach, Florida In February 1943
#30 Newsboys At Greeley Square, New York, Photographed In May 1903
The people in it start looking like actual people who laughed, worried, celebrated, and lived full complicated lives long before any of us showed up. That small shift in perception, more than any technical trick, is probably why these colorized image accounts have become so popular in the first place.
#31 5th Avenue At 42nd Street, New York, Photographed By Todd Webb In 1946
#32 Charles Clyde Ebbets, The Photographer Generally Credited With Taking The Famous “Lunch Atop A Skyscraper” Image, Positioned On A Beam Taking A Photograph In New York City In 1932 During The Construction Of The Rca Building
#33 A Platform Of The Marble Arch London Tube Station Photographed In C. 1900
#34 A Young Elvis Presley Posing For A Family Portrait With His Parents Gladys Presley And Vernon Presley In 1937
#35 Sergeant William Mcgregor Who Served With The Scots Fusilier Guards During The Crimean War Photographed In 1856
#36 Us Army Soldier, Pfc. David Kenyon Webster, Poses For The Camera With Locals In Eindhoven, The Netherlands On The 18 September 1944
#37 Hilko Smed Photographed Holding A Sheep While His Brothers Lay In A Bed In A Stable. Photograph Taken By Dutch Photographer Tonnis Post In De Lethe, Groningen, Netherlands, In 1913
#38 A Man Examining The Codex Gigas, The Largest Extant Medieval Illuminated Manuscript In The World, At A Length Of 92 Cm (36 In), At The National Library Of Sweden In Stockholm, Sweden In 1906
#39 British Mps Boarding The R101 Airship From The Mooring Mast At Cardington, England In November 1929
#40 Australian Soldiers And Belgian Children Pose For A Photograph In Front Of The Famous Manneken Pis Statue In Brussels, Belgium On The 16 February 1919
#41 Filling Up At A Gas Station In Washington, D.c In 1920
#42 The Early Michelin Man Photographed In Santa Clara, Cuba In 1926
#43 Times Square In New York City, United States Photographed In C. 1908
#44 Three Men Standing Outside Turner Motor Company, A Used Car Seller In Bedford, Virginia, Photographed By John Vachon In March 1941
#45 Veteran Of The American Revolutionary War, Daniel Waldo, Photographed At The Age Of 101 In 1864
#46 Occupants Of A Sod House In Drenthe, The Netherlands, Photographed Standing Outside In 1936
#47 The Iconic London Milkman Photograph Taken By Fred Morley On The 9 October 1940
#48 A Lamplighter Lighting The Lamps In Hradčany Square In Prague
#49 A Diner Along U.S. Highway No. 1 Near Berwyn, Maryland Photographed By Jack Delano In June 1940
#50 A Group Of Children Photographed By John Vachon In Detroit, Michigan, United States, In August 1942
#51 American Actress And Early Automobile Racer, Eleanor Blevins, Photographed In Front Of Her Racecar In Washington, D. C. In 1915
#52 Employees Of American Bridge Company (Unitied States Steel) Waiting For Bus In Ambridge, Pennsylvania, Photographed By John Vachon In January 1941
#53 Patrons Of The Casino In Enghien-Les-Bains, France Photographed By Zulimo Chiesi In October 1903
#54 7-Foot-Tall (2.10m) Captured German Soldier, Jacob Naken, Talking With A Canadian Soldier In Calais, France On 29 September 1944
#55 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. Photograph Taken In Nipomo, California
#56 A Coal Miner Photographed At The End Of A Day’s Work, In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania In 1942
#57 French Soldiers Of The 5th Infantry Regiment Photographed On The 6 August 1914 In Paris, France Preparing To Go To War
#58 Portrait Of William T. Sherman, General In The Union Army During The American Civil War. Taken In C. 1865
#59 Theodore Roosevelt On Horseback Posing For A Photograph In Montauk, Long Island, New York In C. 1898
#60 Students With Their Car In Front Of University Club In Washington, D.c. In May 1942
#61 A Crowded Bus Carrying People To Work At 8 Am In Baltimore, Maryland. Photograph Taken By Marjory Collins In April 1943
#62 A Slum Called “Wijde Gang” Near Willemsstraat, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Photographed In 1910
#63 People At Daytona Beach In Florida, United States In 1904
#64 Swiss Bodybuilder Maurice Dériaz Poses In The Studio Of French Artist Gustave Courtois As Courtois Works On A Painting. Photograph Taken By Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret In C. 1914
#65 A Man Arriving In Radford, Virginia In December 1940
#66 French Soldiers Of The 23rd Infantry Regiment Pose For A Photograph Underneath A Makeshift Shelter Made From Pine Branches. Photo Taken In Vosges, France In April 1915
#67 Amsterdam, Netherlands In 1921 Of The Zwarte Bijlsteeg, An Alley Of Het Hemelrijk Which Was A Slum That Was Demolished Some Years Later
#68 Australian Artillery Reinforcements Driving On The Road To Join The 5th Australian Divisional Artillery Who Are Currently Engaged In A Battle For The Hindenburg Line Defences. Photo Taken On The 1 October 1918
#69 People Gathered On Nieuwezijds Armsteeg, A Small Street In Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Photograph Taken In August 1916
#70 Romanian Scientist, Antarctic Explorer, And Diver Emil Racoviță Posing For The First Ever Underwater Portrait, Taken In 1899
#71 An Elderly Man Named Ole Bolkesjø Standing On A Farm In Notodden, Telemark, Norway Photographed Axel Lindahl In The 1880s
#72 Gutzon Borglum, The Architect Of Mount Rushmore, Hangs Below Abraham Lincoln’s Eye As The Crew Works On The Carving Of Lincoln’s Head Into The Mountain. Photograph Taken In 1935
#73 A Couple Wearing Raccoon Coats Photographed By Their Cadillac V-16 Automobile In Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, In 1932
#74 A Us Navy Crewmember On The Flight Deck Of The Uss Monterey Carrying A Stack Of Sandwiches Saipan In June 1944
#75 ‘little Italy’ On Mulberry Street, Manhattan, New York City Bustling With People Photographed By Jacob Riis In C. 1900
#76 French And American Soldiers Photographed At The Altar Of The Church Of Sainte Jeanne D’arc (Basilique Du Bois Chenu) Near Domrémy, France On The 15 September 1918
#77 Italian Racing Driver Ferdinando Minoia Driving His Bugatti T37a At The 1928 Targa Florio Race In Sicily
#78 Artists Working On Wax Heads At Madame Tussauds In London, England In 1940
#79 Soldiers From The Soviet Union, The United States, And The United Kingdom
#80 Center Market Place In New York City Photographed By Andreas Feininger In 1940
