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Looking at old black-and-white photos, have you ever wondered what people and things were really like back then? Well, of course, nowadays we have a lot of easily accessible sources providing us with all the information we need. However, it is probably impossible to fully understand a period in which we didn't exist yet.

To give you a better idea of the reality back in the day, we want to show you some works of Sebastien de Oliveira. He is an illustrator and a photographer who can resurrect the past in new colors. Literally. With the help of Photoshop, the artist colorizes old photos, giving them more life.

For more of Sebastien's colorized pictures, check out our previous post here.

More info: Instagram

#1

A Woman Driving A Sports Car Around Hollywood With Thor The Great Dane Riding Shotgun, 1961. Photographed By Ralph Crane

A Woman Driving A Sports Car Around Hollywood With Thor The Great Dane Riding Shotgun, 1961. Photographed By Ralph Crane

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Bored Panda got in touch with Sebastien again to get to know more about him and his creative process. The artist shared that he is nearly at a thousand images colorized by now! That's an impressive number, so we got curious about whether his colorizing technique has changed over time. The artist replied that after the first three years where he was experimenting, he needed to crystallize the process in order to be liberated from the "how to do it" and to concentrate on the choices of colors or the general atmospheres he wanted to show.

"My technique is polished now so basically I don’t need to think about it. It doesn’t mean I don’t make efforts to improve it but the more technical parts are completely automatic for me now, so I really only think about the artistic choices and the ways to go further on the time machine effect."

#2

Frida Kahlo On A Small Boat At Xochimilco, Mexico, Photographed In 1936

Frida Kahlo On A Small Boat At Xochimilco, Mexico, Photographed In 1936

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#3

Amelia Earhart, Photographed In 1932

Amelia Earhart, Photographed In 1932

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Sebastien colorizes images that depict people, actions, or feelings and when they tell a little story: "I see the possibilities in the original image, also with basic elements like trees, sea, or sand, to already imagine what color it will be and try to figure out a way to equilibrate the future colorization. I always go to see the Library of Congress and the FSA collection, of course, but I can be inspired by other Instagram accounts that give me ideas, like @classy_badasssery for instance, that have lots of cool images. Otherwise, it is just during random surfing on the internet. It is rare that people give me an image to colorize but it has happened, and it’s always a joy to see people seeing their ancestors in color for the first time!"

#4

Photographer Harry Adams Stands With A Young Woman In Front Of His Barbershop. Los Angeles, 1956

Photographer Harry Adams Stands With A Young Woman In Front Of His Barbershop. Los Angeles, 1956

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#5

Brigitte Bardot In A Boat, 1959

Brigitte Bardot In A Boat, 1959

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Sebastien revealed that until now, colorizing was only a hobby that he was taking "way too seriously". "My real job is a retoucher for the fashion industry in Paris. I can take some commissions if the subjects and the images are interesting. I just began a collaboration with the magazine France-Amérique in New York for illustrating an article. Recently colorization took a bigger place in my occupations."

#6

Manis The Orangutan And Clint Eastwood, Behind The Scenes Of The Film "Every Which Way But Loose " By James Fargo (1978)

Manis The Orangutan And Clint Eastwood, Behind The Scenes Of The Film "Every Which Way But Loose " By James Fargo (1978)

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#7

Hal And Betty Takier, Jitterbug Dancing 1938

Hal And Betty Takier, Jitterbug Dancing 1938

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Sebastien makes everything on Photoshop. Here's how he describes his process: "the process is quite simple and complex at the same time, first restoring the original monochrome image, cleaning the dust and scratches and preparing it to receive the color layer. Second, creating paths to be able to select all the different elements in the image means spending time on clipping. After that, the moment arrives to choose the colors to put on top of the black and white image. The fourth step will be my special treatment, I take a scale of five grey and I color it in a way to give every tone of color a different orientation. For making it simple, the same color will be more blue in the dark and more yellow in the light, it gives a natural tone to the image. Other settings are required for giving the color a more saturated and solid aspect. I finish with a color grain in the overall surface of the image to give another argentic aspect."

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#8

February 9, 1927. Washington, D.c. Miss Grace Wagner, Central High School

February 9, 1927. Washington, D.c. Miss Grace Wagner, Central High School

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#9

Marilyn Monroe In The Henry Hathaway's Film "Niagara", 1953

Marilyn Monroe In The Henry Hathaway's Film "Niagara", 1953

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"With all the different aspects of the process, it can take quite some time to colorize a picture but it really depends on the subject. If it is only a portrait with no complicated background it can be only an hour and if it is a street with cars and people it can be several hours. My job as a retoucher gave me the dexterity of working quite fast, it is what happened when you work on the same program for 8 hours a day for the last 18 years."

#10

James Dean Signs Autographs In His Car In Marfa, Texas, Photographed By Richard C. Miller, In July 1955

James Dean Signs Autographs In His Car In Marfa, Texas, Photographed By Richard C. Miller, In July 1955

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#11

Actress Cathy O'donnell, 1945. Photographed By Martha Holmes For Life And Time Pictures

Actress Cathy O'donnell, 1945. Photographed By Martha Holmes For Life And Time Pictures

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The artist also shared that his book "Back to America!" has just been released in France! "I worked on it from the beginning of the year and it compiles 180 colorized images from the ’40s. It is such a great accomplishment for me that now I have difficulties imagining what will happen after that, another book maybe, other collaborations for articles, it seems to be only the beginning of the adventure."

If you're interested, you can order the book here.

#12

Parisians On A Bus, Photographed In 1951

Parisians On A Bus, Photographed In 1951

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#13

Anonymous Couple Photographed In 1942

Anonymous Couple Photographed In 1942

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#14

Richmond, Virginia, Circa 1908

Richmond, Virginia, Circa 1908

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#15

Actress Katharine Hepburn, 1907-2003. Photographed By Alfred Eisenstaedt In 1937

Actress Katharine Hepburn, 1907-2003. Photographed By Alfred Eisenstaedt In 1937

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#16

Veteran Soldier Of Napoleon With His Old Uniform On The Anniversary Of Napoleon's Death. Photographed In 1858

Veteran Soldier Of Napoleon With His Old Uniform On The Anniversary Of Napoleon's Death. Photographed In 1858

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Add photo comments
POST
Mike Crow
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At the time soldiers didn’t have camo and take cover in a battle. They were in formation, marched up to the enemy and started firing their muskets in order. So some uniforms were very ornate, especially if they were an elite unit like a Guards.

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Plague doctor
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They weren't worn by the regular soldier but only by high ranking officers who were in the back

Wim Westerlaken
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is a Sergeant not a officer. And these uniforms were worn in the field just look up paintings of waterloo.

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Eve Phelps
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That hat was definitely made for people with a Napoleon complex! I know a few people that could use that hat today!

Patti Wagner
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The colored picture personifies the military position of this gentleman.

Russell Tilling
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

La gloire de guerre! Now we're like "What a waste of life!" Still looks great though, which is probably one reason they did it. To get the girls.

FunOldGuy
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you can find it, read an Arthur Conan Doyle story called "A Straggler of '15." It's quite moving.

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#17

Diane Keaton And Al Pacino On The Set Of The Godfather By Francis Ford Coppola In 1972

Diane Keaton And Al Pacino On The Set Of The Godfather By Francis Ford Coppola In 1972

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#18

Couple Kissing In The Front Seat Of A Convertible Car At A Drive-In Movie. Photographed In 1945

Couple Kissing In The Front Seat Of A Convertible Car At A Drive-In Movie. Photographed In 1945

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#19

Soldier And His Girlfriend Waiting For A Train At Chicago Union Station, Photographed By Jack Delano In February 1943

Soldier And His Girlfriend Waiting For A Train At Chicago Union Station, Photographed By Jack Delano In February 1943

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#20

Marlon Brando Photographed By Ed Clark In 1949

Marlon Brando Photographed By Ed Clark In 1949

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#21

Students Of The University Of Maryland Photographed In 1923

Students Of The University Of Maryland Photographed In 1923

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#22

Model Wearing Suse Dannenburg 'Jezebel' Sweater, Photographed By Nina Leen For Life Magazine, 1947

Model Wearing Suse Dannenburg 'Jezebel' Sweater, Photographed By Nina Leen For Life Magazine, 1947

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#23

Drought Refugees, California, Photographed By Dorothea Lange In February 1936

Drought Refugees, California, Photographed By Dorothea Lange In February 1936

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#24

Taxi Driver, Place Pigalle, 1958. Photographed By Paul Almasy

Taxi Driver, Place Pigalle, 1958. Photographed By Paul Almasy

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#25

Marilyn Monroe And Jane Russell Photographed On The Set Of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", Around 1953

Marilyn Monroe And Jane Russell Photographed On The Set Of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", Around 1953

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#26

8th Of October 1963: British Actor Sean Connery Lounges On A Sofa With A Cigarette

8th Of October 1963: British Actor Sean Connery Lounges On A Sofa With A Cigarette

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#27

Photographed In 1936 By The French Photographer Pierre Jamet

Photographed In 1936 By The French Photographer Pierre Jamet

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#28

Photographed By Pierre Jamet In 1936

Photographed By Pierre Jamet In 1936

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#29

April 17, 1935. Pontiac Convertible Coupe At Tanforan Racetrack, San Bruno

April 17, 1935. Pontiac Convertible Coupe At Tanforan Racetrack, San Bruno

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#30

Miss Lenora Rivero With Anthony Jannus In Rex Smith Aeroplane, 1911

Miss Lenora Rivero With Anthony Jannus In Rex Smith Aeroplane, 1911

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#31

Elegant Thérèse Bonney, Taking The Train, With Vuitton Luggage, 1928

Elegant Thérèse Bonney, Taking The Train, With Vuitton Luggage, 1928

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#32

Lauren Bacall, Photographed In 1942

Lauren Bacall, Photographed In 1942

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#33

American Women Workers Serving Algerian Fusiliers With Sandwiches At The American Red Cross Military Canteen At Juvisy, 1918

American Women Workers Serving Algerian Fusiliers With Sandwiches At The American Red Cross Military Canteen At Juvisy, 1918

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#34

Little Fisherman, Gloucester, Massachusetts, Photographed By Howard Liberman In September 1942

Little Fisherman, Gloucester, Massachusetts, Photographed By Howard Liberman In September 1942

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#35

Man Changing A Tire, New York, Photographed In 1946 By Stanley Kubrick

Man Changing A Tire, New York, Photographed In 1946 By Stanley Kubrick

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#36

Robert De Niro Photographed On The Set Of The Film "Taxi Driver" By Martin Scorcese, 1976

Robert De Niro Photographed On The Set Of The Film "Taxi Driver" By Martin Scorcese, 1976

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#37

Central Park Lake On A Sunday, New York, Photographed By Marjory Collins In September 1942

Central Park Lake On A Sunday, New York, Photographed By Marjory Collins In September 1942

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#38

College Boys Trying To "Thumb" A Ride Home Over The Weekend, Near Natchitoches, Louisiana. Photographed By Marion Post Wolcott In June 1940

College Boys Trying To "Thumb" A Ride Home Over The Weekend, Near Natchitoches, Louisiana. Photographed By Marion Post Wolcott In June 1940

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#39

A Norwegian Sailor And An Oswego Girl On A Hayride During Unites Nations Week, Oswego, New York. Photographed By Marjory Collins In June 1943

A Norwegian Sailor And An Oswego Girl On A Hayride During Unites Nations Week, Oswego, New York. Photographed By Marjory Collins In June 1943

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#40

Couple Kissing At The Cinema, Photographed By Weegee In 1943

Couple Kissing At The Cinema, Photographed By Weegee In 1943

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Note: this post originally had 70 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.

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