# Colorized History

> Colorized History is a 2012 Reddit community that digitally restores color to historical black-and-white photographs, sparking global debates about authenticity and the ethics of alteration.

Colorized History refers to the practice of digitally adding color to historical black-and-white photographs, and the online communities built around sharing these restored images. The movement gained major traction on Reddit starting in 2010, with the dedicated /r/ColorizedHistory subreddit launching in December 2012 and growing to over 631,000 members[2]. What began as a niche Photoshop hobby became a globally recognized art form that sparked ongoing debate about historical authenticity and the ethics of altering archival images.

## Origin
Long before Photoshop existed, people were adding color to photographs by hand. The first hand-colored daguerreotypes are attributed to Swiss painter Johann Baptist Isenring, who used pigment-and-gum-arabic mixtures to tint daguerreotypes shortly after their invention in 1839[3]. Hand-coloring with watercolors, oils, crayons, and pastels stayed the primary method for producing color photographic images until Kodak introduced Kodachrome film in the mid-20th century[3].

Digital colorization became possible as computers grew cheaper and more powerful through the 1970s[4]. The earliest known online colorization tutorial appeared on July 25, 2002, on the photo manipulation site Worth 1000[5]. On November 1, 2003, BlackMagic photo coloring software launched for Windows, using neural net algorithms and "RealLifeColour" technology originally developed for colorizing Hollywood black-and-white films[6].

The meme as an internet community movement traces to October 22, 2010, when Reddit user chadathin posted a colorized photograph of a couple from 1939 to /r/pics, pulling in over 1,300 upvotes and 200 comments[5].

- **Platform:** Reddit (viral spread), Worth 1000 (earliest known digital tutorial)
- **Creator:** Mads Madsen (founded /r/ColorizedHistory, Reddit handle zuzahin), Marina Amaral (prominent colorization artist), chadathin (early viral Reddit post)
- **Date:** 2010 (viral spread); technique dates to 1839 (hand-coloring) and 1970s (digital)

## Overview
Colorized History images are historical monochrome photographs that have been digitally transformed into full-color versions using image manipulation software like Photoshop. The process involves painstaking research into the actual colors of clothing, uniforms, skin tones, and environments from the era depicted, then layering those colors onto the original image pixel by pixel[1]. A single complex image can take anywhere from a few hours to an entire month of work[1].

The appeal is straightforward: color makes historical figures look like real people rather than distant icons frozen in faded silver prints. As one Reddit commenter put it about a colorized Civil War portrait, "I feel like I'm looking at the man, and not the legend"[1].

## How It Spread
On April 17, 2011, Redditor Moishaha submitted a colorized portrait of Abraham Lincoln to /r/pics, where it drew more than 3,900 upvotes and 410 comments[5]. The post showed how effectively color could collapse the perceived distance between a 19th-century president and a modern viewer.

The /r/colorization subreddit launched on December 27, 2011, created by Redditor Hulde as a general hub for black-and-white photo colorization[5]. Then in 2012, Danish artist Mads Madsen (then 17 years old and entirely self-taught) shared a colorized portrait of Civil War general Gershom Mott that looked like it could have been taken yesterday[1]. The image went viral on Reddit with over a thousand comments. The very next day, Madsen founded /r/ColorizedHistory on December 2, 2012, establishing a curated community where select artists shared high-quality colorizations[5].

On June 6, 2012, LIFE Magazine published a collection of colorized photographs captured by wartime photographer Frank Scherschel in France during the days around D-Day[7]. Most of the photos had never been published before, and the collection spread rapidly through online news sites and WWII communities[9]. TIME, NPR, and HuffPost all covered the release, with NPR noting that "history books tend to suggest that the world was black-and-white before 1950"[8].

By May 23, 2013, the community was hitting massive numbers. Redditor mygrapefruit posted a colorized version of a 1921 auto wreck photograph to /r/pics that pulled 54,000 upvotes and 1,600 comments in three months[5]. Two weeks later, the same user submitted a colorized 1915 street scene from Saratoga Springs, New York to /r/HistoryPorn, earning 7,200 upvotes[5].

## How to Use
Traditional Colorized History images are created using Photoshop or similar software. Artists typically:
1. Select a high-resolution scan of a historical black-and-white photograph
2. Research the actual colors of clothing, uniforms, skin tones, flags, and environments from the era using historical texts, museum collections, and expert consultation[1]
3. Build up color layer by layer on separate Photoshop layers, adjusting opacity and blending modes
4. Focus on consistent hue, saturation, and brightness across the image to avoid an unnatural painted-on look[6]

## Cultural Impact
Colorized History bridged the gap between academic history and popular internet culture. LIFE Magazine's 2012 release of colorized D-Day photographs by Frank Scherschel brought the trend to mainstream media attention, with TIME, NPR, and HuffPost all running coverage[7][8][9]. The photos showed American troops in small English towns, the French countryside, and the liberation of Paris in vivid color that made the 1944 scenes feel startlingly contemporary[7].

The Inspire We Trust blog captured the movement's appeal, writing that "for me it's like the past had always been black and white" before colorization artists disrupted that assumption[11]. Jordan Lloyd's Dynamichrome project created animated GIFs showing the before-and-after transformation of celebrity portraits, adding another visual dimension to the trend[11].

Mads Madsen's tutorial on the colorization process was shared widely, and a 2017 Vox documentary detailed how Marina Amaral builds up her colorizations on screen[1]. What started as a Reddit hobby became a professional career path for artists like Madsen and Amaral, with book deals and commissioned work from major publications[1].

## Fun Facts
- Mads Madsen was 17 years old, self-taught, and "couldn't draw a stick figure" when his first colorization went viral[1].
- Marina Amaral spent nearly a full month colorizing a single early 20th-century photo of New York's banana docks because of the sheer number of hats, faces, and fabric strips[1].
- The golden age of hand-colored photography in the West ran from 1900 to 1940, with Wallace Nutting becoming the best-selling hand-colored photographer of all time during that period[3].
- Japanese hand-colored photographs from the 1860s onward employed the refined skills of watercolorists and woodblock printmakers, creating some of the most technically accomplished colored photographs in history[3].
- Color images have a measurably greater impact on visual memory than monochrome ones, which partly explains why colorized photos feel so much more "real"[1].

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Colorized History?
Colorized History refers to historical black-and-white photographs that have been digitally restored to full color using image manipulation software, and the online communities dedicated to sharing them[5].

### Where did Colorized History come from?
The practice of coloring monochrome photos dates to 1839 with hand-tinting, but the internet community formed on Reddit starting in 2010 when users began posting colorized historical photos to /r/pics[3][5].

### What does Colorized History mean?
It describes both the technical process of adding accurate color to old black-and-white photographs and the broader cultural movement of making historical images feel more immediate and relatable[1].

### How do you use Colorized History?
Artists use Photoshop to research and layer accurate colors onto high-resolution scans of historical photographs. AI tools now offer automated alternatives, though manual colorization is more historically precise[6][10].

### Is Colorized History still popular?
Yes. The /r/ColorizedHistory subreddit has over 631,000 members, and new colorized images are regularly posted and shared across social media platforms[2].

### Who founded the /r/ColorizedHistory subreddit?
Danish artist Mads Madsen (Reddit username zuzahin) created the subreddit on December 2, 2012, the day after his colorized Civil War portrait went viral[1][5].

### How long does it take to colorize a photo?
It varies wildly. Mads Madsen spent about six hours on a Winston Churchill portrait but up to 50 hours on complex group scenes with dozens of figures in different uniforms[1].

### Who is Marina Amaral?
A Brazilian colorization artist who began experimenting in 2015 and gained recognition for her 2016 colorization of Auschwitz prisoner Czesława Kwoka's registration photos. She co-authored *The Colour of Time* with historian Dan Jones[1].

### Is colorizing historical photos controversial?
Yes. Critics like University of Dublin professor Emily Mark-Fitzgerald argue it gives a false impression that photos are simple windows to the past, while defenders say it makes history more accessible and emotionally engaging[2].

### What was the first viral colorized photo on Reddit?
One of the earliest viral posts was by user chadathin on October 22, 2010: a colorized photograph of a man and his wife from 1939, which earned over 1,300 upvotes on /r/pics[5].

### What role did LIFE Magazine play in Colorized History?
On June 6, 2012, LIFE released a collection of mostly unpublished colorized D-Day photographs by Frank Scherschel, which went viral through news sites and WWII communities[7][9].

### Can AI colorize photos automatically?
Machine learning algorithms can now automate colorization, but professional artists note that AI lacks the historical research and artistic judgment needed for truly accurate results[10].

## References
1. [Down and Dirty Colorization - Worth1000 Tutorials](<https://web.archive.org/web/20160226000146/http://www.worth1000.com/tutorials/160986/160986-down-and-dirty-colorization/>)
2. [Coloring photographs [Colorization] - BlackMagic shareware software - convert black & white photos to Color](<http://www.blackmagic-color.com/>)
3. [D-Day Anniversary Marked With Release Of Rare Color Photos | HuffPost The World Post](<https://www.huffpost.com/entry/d-day-anniversary-rare-color-photos_n_1574254>)
4. [Colorized History - Know Your Meme](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/colorized-history>)
5. [Meme](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme>)
6. [Digital image processing](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_image_processing>)
7. [Hand-colouring of photographs - Wikipedia](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand-colouring>)
8. [Remembering D-Day With Rare Color Photos : The Picture Show : NPR](<https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2011/06/06/137003198/on-d-day-anniversary-rare-color-photos>)
9. [Colorized History: The color history DIY | Inspire We Trust](<https://www.inspirewetrust.com/en/2015/11/24/colorized-history/>)
10. [80 Fascinating Colorized Photos That Show History From A New Perspective | Bored Panda](<https://www.boredpanda.com/interesting-colorized-history-pics/>)
11. [colorizethis.io/knowledge/what_are_those_colorized_history_memes...](<https://colorizethis.io/knowledge/what_are_those_colorized_history_memes_called.php>)
12. [The Passionate Photo Colorizers Who Are Humanizing the Past - Atlas Obscura](<https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/colorized-historical-photos>)
13. [Before and After D-Day: Color Photos From England and France, 1944](<https://www.life.com/history/before-and-after-d-day-color-photos-from-england-and-france/>)
14. [D-Day: Color Photos From England and France Before and After Invasion | TIME](<https://time.com/92643/d-day-color-photos-from-england-and-france-before-and-after-invasion/>)

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