For a quite long period of time, pictures existed only in black and white. When we look at these pictures, we can’t truly connect and relate to the people in them. They look so far back in time that it’s hard to imagine what it was like to be them. But that alien feeling vanished when a talented artist decided to add color to the pictures. The colorized old photos no longer look like they were taken one hundred years ago, but yesterday. Don’t believe me? Keep reading!

Despite the fact that critics didn’t embrace the whole idea of modernized old photos, Jordan Lloyd didn’t get discouraged at all. Out of passion for art, he transforms old photos that capture moments and scenes from history into colorized, updated ones. The cool part is that they have never been seen in color. Except for the people who were actually present when the photos were taken.

When you’re missing the color, you are kind of looking at the entire composition as a whole; whereas when you add the color, you start looking at the photograph in a slightly different way. You start picking up all these really interesting details you might not notice before, says Jordan Lloyd.

When the perspective changes, we get the impression that all these images suddenly come to life. But the process takes time and commitment. The practice of adding color to old pictures is not a new one. People used to colorize photos by hand, but the result is quite far from looking realistic. This is where tools like Photoshop come in handy.

The secret to doing the research for the colorization is that we now have a wealth of information, it’s just knowing where to look.

The artist looks into diaries, memoirs, advertisements, and the actual clothes of the people in the pictures that have been kept at museums, in order to make sure that the colors are loyal to the originals.

The longest I’ve spent on an image is nearly a month.

After diligent research on a certain picture, the artist takes time to restore any flaw that the photo picked up, such as cracks and scratches. Then, he makes sure the colors he uses to colorize it truly represent the historical moment. The next and last step demands the most knowledge. Jordan analyzes the picture closely in order to determine how the light in the atmosphere interacts with the objects or the people in the photos.

You can usually tell what the atmospheric conditions were based on things like shadows, triangulation of location, and things like that.

Below, we have cataloged some of the artist’s pieces of work. Let us know what you think about it in the comment section below.

Facing the Dust Storm, 1936

Abraham Lincoln, 1865

Into the Jaws of Death, 1944

Flippin’ Burgers, 1938

Welcome to Tombstone, 1937

Cotton Choppin’ Hoes, 1936

The March on Washington, 1963