Journeying through history often feels distant when peering at faded black and white photographs that seem to belong to another world.
The mind craves color, yearning for a connection that black and white imagery struggles to provide.
Adding color to photos used to be really hard before computers came along. People had to paint colors onto the photos, which took a lot of care and time.
But with computers, things changed. It’s still a lot of work, but it’s become much easier to do.
When artists work on these photos, they dig into old records to find out what colors things really were.
Sometimes, they have to guess, using their knowledge to make smart choices about the colors. The result is incredible. Streets, faces, and places that seemed far away suddenly look alive and real.
These colorized historical photos aren’t just pretty pictures. They’re like time machines, showing us what life was really like in the past.
They connect us to where we come from and make history feel like something happening right now, not just stories in books.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/historical-colorized-photos-02.webp)
Coney Island, New York, 1905. Colorized by Dana Keller.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/historical-colorized-photos-03.webp)
A small child with a puppy – Point Pleasant,West Virginia, 1943. Colorized by Paul Edwards.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/historical-colorized-photos-04.webp)
Flipping Burgers, 1938. Colorized by Jordan J. Lloyd.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/historical-colorized-photos-05.webp)
College students pile into a Volkswagen Beetle, 1965.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/historical-colorized-photos-07.webp)
Harlem News Boy, 1943. Colorized by Dynamichrome.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/historical-colorized-photos-08.webp)
British tattoo artist George Burchett, the King of Tattooists, 1930. Colorized by Dana Keller.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/historical-colorized-photos-11.webp)
Daredevil in 1917. Colorized by Jordan J. Lloyd.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-13CiLguav4A/VV4QNxW6kAI/AAAAAAABhrA/GnisyaCDQdg/s1600/Colored%2B%252821%2529.jpg)
World War II propaganda posters in Port Washington, New York, 1942.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qD_QRRBgWbg/VV4QObmrixI/AAAAAAABhrM/hfgP6ytX9Ts/s1600/Colored%2B%252822%2529.jpg)
Marilyn Monroe’s USO performance, February 1954. Colorized by Dana Keller.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FfZ-4SeYPyg/VV4QQcewR8I/AAAAAAABhrg/IWsWYI-uh6k/s1600/Colored%2B%252824%2529.jpg)
Coca-Cola vending point at the Helsinki Summer Olympics, 1952. Colorized by Laiz Kuczynski.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KURjqZN3bGY/VV4QQaxQT6I/AAAAAAABhrc/hNoDb_q-hrw/s1600/Colored%2B%252825%2529.jpg)
Miss America, 1924 – Ruth Malcomson.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S0BEYb4DWME/VV4QS6pSJrI/AAAAAAABhsA/xgRUH1I2OCE/s1600/Colored%2B%252829%2529.jpg)
Titanic sinks on April 15, 1912. Newspaper boy Ned Parfett sells copies of the evening paper bearing news of the disaster. Colorized by Dana Keller.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZV8dD7ewc_g/VV4QU0tuiqI/AAAAAAABhsY/eNJDGNMKdd8/s1600/Colored%2B%252831%2529.jpg)
Clam seller on Mulberry Bend, New York, 1900s. Colorized by Sanna Dullaway.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7uokmlu7s90/VV4QWVXT2mI/AAAAAAABhss/NYs9YXYCTi8/s1600/Colored%2B%252833%2529.jpg)
Women in witch costumes, 1875. Colorized by Laiz Kuczynski.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QesGkmBz6qw/VV4QW6eUtZI/AAAAAAABhs0/OXVCzeTG_Kk/s1600/Colored%2B%252834%2529.jpg)
A Samurai, 1881. Colorized by Dynamichrome.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hBujb0yXeew/VV4QX0DpzII/AAAAAAABhs4/JFX2sJxA-9E/s1600/Colored%2B%252835%2529.jpg)
The Flatiron Building, 1905. Colorized by Sanna Dullaway.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w2xpz3tOT70/VV4QYcTnCRI/AAAAAAABhs8/ZxJ1Ji_R9HA/s1600/Colored%2B%252836%2529.jpg)
Inventor and physicist Thomas Alva Edison. New Jersey, 1911. Colorized by Laiz Kuczynski.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XTZlCHy_4YM/VV4QbLIENpI/AAAAAAABhtU/JsNW5ysFJ-8/s1600/Colored%2B%252839%2529.jpg)
Curb Market in NYC, ca 1900. Colorized by Sanna Dullaway.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wn2NUWvv15g/VV4QcOfD2aI/AAAAAAABhto/x5HVXbACdoI/s1600/Colored%2B%252840%2529.jpg)
Observer on Iwo Jima, 1945. Colorized by Dynamichrome.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nzHN_3zKNVg/VV4QMfCiD7I/AAAAAAABhq0/Rb1SY-81wiA/s1600/Colored%2B%25282%2529.jpg)
Romanov sisters, Grand Duchesses Maria, Olga, Anastasia, and Tatiana, 1910. Colorized by Dana Keller.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gu0-Jv8051o/VV4QTbHwnWI/AAAAAAABhsM/4P51fSd4Ksw/s1600/Colored%2B%25283%2529.jpg)
Manhattan at sunset from the George Washington Bridge, December 1936.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LyG0XHBtMaM/VV4Qb82lexI/AAAAAAABhtk/3xyiJ66XAa8/s1600/Colored%2B%25284%2529.jpg)
“Here lies an unknown English Lieutenant killed in air combat” – Western Desert, Egypt, 1941. Colorized by Laiz Kuczynski.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zg6Huq70oNA/VV4QehmFkAI/AAAAAAABht8/gsz-ztYX30U/s1600/Colored%2B%25286%2529.jpg)
Licking blocks of ice during the heat wave, NYC, 1912. Colorized by Sanna Dullaway.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pI4tH2Axl9I/VV4QgvfHvYI/AAAAAAABhuU/4UtwgLs92uU/s1600/Colored%2B%25288%2529.jpg)
Two girls, Jean and Charlotte Potter, sit at the beach with their dog, ca. 1910-1915. Colorized by Jared Enos.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VvfaGbPrZ60/VV4Qg4kjkBI/AAAAAAABhuY/vQX7R3uJfYI/s1600/Colored%2B%25289%2529.jpg)
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Soccer legend Pele. Sao Paulo, 1958. Colorized by Laiz Kuczynski.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZFoh5TO7reI/VV4QCa-b5BI/AAAAAAABhpc/0EH-2-iE0sc/s1600/Colored%2B%252810%2529.jpg)
An Ojibwe Native American spearfishing, Minnesota, 1908. Colorized by Jared Enos.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--4fhC3yo07E/VV4QDAywB_I/AAAAAAABhps/3KCUf8TlTWQ/s1600/Colored%2B%252812%2529.jpg)
Duck Dynasty, 1926. Colorized by Dynamichrome.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oDUYJMKU_nc/VV4QKdbbkBI/AAAAAAABhqY/IsPdYpTb_WM/s1600/Colored%2B%252813%2529.png)
Film and fashion icon Audrey Hepburn, ca. 1953.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EJlmFeB5kYI/VV4QJagp8jI/AAAAAAABhqQ/1jxcWQuZ0WE/s1600/Colored%2B%252817%2529.jpg)
Baseball legend “Babe” Ruth, (ca. 1920), the year he joined the New York Yankees. Colorized by Dana Keller.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UVmv8fkdDPI/VV4QLhUBowI/AAAAAAABhqo/Ew9aSHfcDd0/s1600/Colored%2B%252819%2529.jpg)
Cab stand in Madison Square Park, New York, ca 1900. Colorized by Sanna Dullaway.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r-vOJad7ols/VV4QNazsieI/AAAAAAABhq4/m8OzvuNtcY4/s1600/Colored%2B%252820%2529.jpg)
Unemployed men outside Al Capone’s soup kitchen in Chicago during the Great Depression, 1931. Colorized by Dana Keller.
![Stunning Restored and Colorized Historical Images](https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/historical-colorized-photos-01.webp)
Jewish women and children arriving at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp, Poland, 1944. Colorized by Dana Keller.