Remarkable Colorized Photos Reveal What Life Was Like For French Soldiers During World War I

These colorized photos were brought to life by French bank technician, Frédéric Duriez. The images were provided by the Valois collection which belongs to the BDIC.

“By colorizing these photos, I reduce the time that separates us today from this conflict,” said Frédéric. “A black and white photo does not attract the attention of young people, if you color it, then people will look at it with curiosity. After this, we see the greater the misery and distress of these French fighters.”

The stunning photos show men reading their mail in the safety of a shelter, smiling in the trenches in Souain and trying to grab some important sleep on top of sandbags. In others, soldiers can be seen bathing their horses in a river and the wounded on their evacuation route.

The total number of casualties in World War I was more that 38 million. By the end of the war, over eight-million men had been called up to fight in the French army. France suffered 4.2 million casualties during the war with 1.3 million people dead.

“I love the color and facial expressions of the people,” added Frédéric. “I get good reactions from people and I am surprised at this, many tell me that they are impressed by the colous I use and that it highlights the characters.”

Two soldiers sleep in La Harazee, in the north of the country close to the French border with Luxembourg, in July 1917.

German prisoners are pictured arriving from Tilloloy after being captured in August 1918.

French soldiers wearing blue uniforms are pictured mounted on the back of horses as they trudge through a river in Louppy-le-Petit in 1916.

The wounded were evacuated on makeshift stretchers in the muddy and damp surroundings in October 1917.

A pipe-smoking French soldier looks over his shoulder as he and two comrades shelter in a trench.

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39 Hand-Colored Portraits of Norwegian Women in the Mid-19th Century

Marcus Selmer (1819-1900) was a Danish photographer who worked in Norway. He became Bergens first established photographer in 1852 and ran until his death in 1900.

With his urban- and landscape-prospect photography, together with his series presenting Norwegian national costumes, Selmer came to have great influence in shaping the concept of the Norwegian.

Selmer's entire archives were destroyed by his death.

Here is an amazing collection of hand-colored salt paper prints from Preus museum that show portraits of Norwegian women he photographed from 1857 to 1870.

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Old Romanian Glass-Plate Portraits Restored and Turned Into Colorfully Whimsical Composites

Fascinated by the thousands of old photographs on glass plates from the Costica Acsinte Archive, Australian artist Jane Long has created more imaginatively surreal compositions by digitally restoring, colorizing, and manipulating black-and-white photos captured over 50 years ago.

In her words: “I wanted to bring them to life. But more than that, I wanted to give them a story.”

By adding color and fanciful elements to each glass-plate photo, Long creates a whimsical fusion of past and present. Without altering the original subjects too much, she transplants them to wacky worlds that often contrast the stiff, stately appearance of each individual, opening up the images to whole new realms of possibility.

Although the series has been the source of controversy, with some people suggesting that it's disrespectful for the artist to use the images of people she doesn't know, Long stands behind her work. “I wanted people to see these figures as real people, more than just an old photograph. Adding colour completely changes our perception of images,” she said. “I wanted to change the context of the images. Photographic practices at the time meant people rarely smiled in photos, but that doesn't mean they didn't laugh and love. I wanted to introduce that to the images.”

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47 Incredible Colorized Photos That Show Everyday Life of Japan in the Late 19 Century

In 1881, after working for many years with the European photographers Felice Beato and Baron Raimund von Stillfried as a photographic colourist and assistant, the Japanese photographer Kusakabe Kimbei (1841-1934) finally opened his own workshop in the Benten-dōri quarter of Yokohama, and soon established himself as one of the most respected and successful Japanese photographers of his generation.

Kimbei opened another studio in Yokohama's Honmachi quarter in 1889, and also a branch in the Ginza quarter of Tokyo. The selection here is from the collection held by The Getty in Los Angeles, focusing mostly on work from the early part of Kimbei's career.

These hand-colored photographs of Kusakabe Kimbei that show everyday life of Japan in the late 19th century.

Kago travelling chair

Kioto dancing girl

Maker and repairer of Samisens

Mother and child

Peony garden

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24 Adorable Colorized Photos That Show Japanese Girls Playing Musical Instruments in the Late 19th and Early 20 Centuries

Here is a collection of colorized photos that shows Japanese girls playing musical instruments from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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21 Amazing Colorized Photos That Show San Francisco in the 19th Century

These photos have been hand-tinted by using analyzed dyes and traditional brush methods by Bennett Hall. They captured street scenes and the infrastructure of San Francisco from the 19th century.

San Francisco Waterfront, 1850

Rincon Point, San Francisco, 1851

Samuel Kellett Storefront at 765 Market Street, ca. 1860s

San Francisco waterfront from Telegraph Hills, 1865

Waterfront below Telegraph Hill, 1865

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Stunning Colorized Photos Bring the Real Dunkirk Evacuation to Life

The evacuation of Dunkirk remains a memorable moment in European and world history, largely for the fact that civilians successfully helped rescue members of the British armed forces when they were nearly trapped by Nazi forces in May of 1940. Only 30,000 to 45,000 were expected to be rescued, but more than 300,000 troops were able to get off the beach.

These stunning pictures showing the dramatic evacuation of Dunkirk during World War II have emerged on the release day of the huge blockbuster film about the daring military operation. The film, which directed by Christopher Nolan, tells of the brave rescue attempt which saved thousands of British and French soldiers.

Two rescue boats make their way across the channel packed with soldiers. (Royston Leonard/mediadrumworld)

Troops being evacuated on a boat, with the central figure bearing a resemblance to film star Fionn Whitehead. (Royston Leonard/mediadrumworld)

Troops wait in the rubble to be rescued. (Royston Leonard/mediadrumworld)

A group of soldiers look out at a burning ship during the evacuation of Dunkirk. (Royston Leonard/mediadrumworld)

British troops in Dunkirk as they make their way to boats that have come to rescue them. (Royston Leonard/mediadrumworld)

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Suffragettes in Color: Striking Images Show the Militant Campaign for Women’s Suffrage Led by Emmeline Pankhurst

The stunning photographs show figurehead, Mrs Pankhurst being dragged away by a policeman as crowds of suffragettes gathered outside the gates of Buckingham Palace in 1914 to demand the King for votes for women.

Another picture shows Emmeline addressing a large male gathering of smartly dressed bankers on Wall Street. Other fascinating pictures show women wearing placards on London streets and walking through their neighborhoods in protest to a host of male onlookers.

The images have been brought to life by electrician, Royston Leonard from Cardiff, Wales. To colourize the images, Royston used a computer programme called Paint Shop Pro which took him 60-hours to complete.

“These pictures show the fight to be heard and seen by a government that wanted women to remain invisible,” said Leonard. “The women were campaigning for the vote and a voice and the fight to have both. They showed people on the streets that they wanted to vote. The most difficult thing was getting the pictures and colours to look correct.”

Leonard started out doing colorisation for his family and friends but now he contribute to three Facebook pages.

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34 Colorized Historical Photos That Will Change How You Feel About The Past

Photography has always been the most used tool to record moments and important events in everyday life. Most of photos are in color today, but there are many historical black and white photos in the past. And if you have never imagined how they would look if they were in color, look at the photographs from the list below.

1. Japanese archers, circa 1860.

2. A view from Capitol in Nashville, Tennessee during the Civil War, 1864.

3. Abraham Lincoln, 1865.

4. Charles Darwin, 1874.

5. Oscar II, King of Sweden and Norway, 1880.

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Wedding in Colorized Photography: The Best Way to Make Brides More Beautiful in the 1940s

These charming photos prove that the reason why people often used hand-coloring method to make them more beautiful in black and white photography era, especially for wedding pics.

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