Colorized or not colorized? That is the question

[Scott Rose]

So colorizing pictures. Yay or nay?

[k5083]

Yay but with disclosure, where possible. Well colorized photos can look amazing aesthetically. But they could mess up the historical record in the future if the fact they were colorized is forgotten.

August

[DH82EH]

Excellent point.
With disclosure and context.

[Mark Allen M]

"Colorizing" old B&W photos rarely are convincing. Occasionally a colorized photo shows up that's close, but in my experiences it's still rare.
Below is a decent attempt backed up by historical facts.




Looks to be Lt. Russ Kyler's 61st FS, 56th FG P-47M


His squadron mates P-47M

[Randy Wilson]

Voted no on account of the general editing in any way of original images or text information, without notations. Have had to deal with this issue before as a museum person. My 2 cents.

Randy

[junkman9096]

I voted no because generally it still is someone's opinion but there are well done exceptions to the "no", though. Peter Jackson's "They Shall Not Be Forgotten" documentary for instance.

[kalamazookid]

My feelings on colorization are conditional to who is doing it. If it is being done by an expert on the colorizing process who has at least somewhat of an educated background on the subject matter depicted, I'm all for it. Colorizing photos (or video), when done properly, further humanizes these old photographs or footage in a way that isn't often present when they are viewed in black and white.

If the colorization is being done by someone with only a rudimentary knowledge of the process or subject depicted, it can look pretty ugly and wildly inaccurate. Care should be taken in research of the subject matter and technique of the colorization. If not, I'd rather not see it.

In any case, colorization should be noted along with the work.

[Dennis7423]

I tend to lean towards colorizing, within reason. A guy I follow on Facebook who runs the outfit Howdi Colour Image Recovery is a guy I've used to colorize several of my Grandfather's images. Nathan, who runs the outfit, has a college degree in Kodak color work, and tends to do a great job, in my eye. Here's some of his work, with full credit given to Nathan:

83220775_102960097940135_7145674456294227968_o by Dennis SAuter, on Flickr

83477680_104376274465184_8993183221675982848_o by Dennis SAuter, on Flickr

86382414_113624660207012_6516311599668527104_o by Dennis SAuter, on Flickr

- Dennis S.
Thornton, CO USA

[raconnel]

The problem is that, too often, a colorized image is copied out of context and presented as original color.
The opposite problem occurs when an original color photo is claimed to be colorized.
I don't have a solution, I just like to point out problems.


Richard

[Clifford Bossie]

Nay. More often than not colorization comes across looking cheesy. Even with notation it can be a problem but is often passed off as "original" color. I felt "They Shall Not Be Forgotten" connected well with viewers, but even then there were scenes where the colors were simply "not right". At least that did not detract from the film.

In the early days of colorized movies one was done poorly showing Frank Sinatra with brown eyes.

[Mark Allen M]

I felt "They Shall Not Be Forgotten" connected well with viewers, but even then there were scenes where the colors were simply "not right". At least that did not detract from the film.

Agreed!

[pjpahs]

“They shall not grow old” is the Peter Jackson film.

[Mick G]

I totally agree with colorizing, but they should only be shown alongside B&W, this was we do not take away form the original in any way.

For a lot of younger people including Millennial's, I think for them it will help make the War seem like more of a real thing, not something from long ago. Kids these days need all the help they can get in appreciating history. This will help us remember and not forget the sacrifices.

[Clifford Bossie]

“They shall not grow old” is the Peter Jackson film.

Correct. It didn't seem right when I typed it, but didn't take the time to double check. Thanks for correcting my mistake.

[Chris Brame]

I just don't care for it in general, especially when the original image is soft focused or low resolution. Real color images - especially Kodachrome - just have so many tonal variations that colorizing can't duplicate.