Stunning Animated GIFs Colorize Vintage Black and White Photos

Photographs are a link to the past, and with advances in technology, we're able to colorize what was once only in black and white. The Dutch website NSMBL recently shared a collection of images that show the “before” and “after” of digital colorization. That alone is interesting, but better yet, the process is revealed in the form of animated GIFs. Vintage monochromatic photos come alive with hues right before our eyes.

Color is gradually added to each image, as if someone is taking the eraser tool in Photoshop and wiping the gray away. Iconic figures like Albert Einstein and Martin Luther King, Jr. receive this special treatment, as do portraits of everyday life. Underneath reveals scenes that suddenly have a new sense of spirit, and we're better able to appreciate just how much energy can come from a color image.

NSMBL website
via [JedaVu Art]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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