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Rare Color Photography from World War I

environmentalgraffiti.com — On this day, ninety-one years ago, the guns that raged over the battlefields of Europe for more than four years fell silent. Never before had slaughter on such an industrial scale been conceived of...

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  • viv25, on 11/11/2009, -28/+13This picture showing blood wars.
    • snowblind113, on 11/12/2009, -2/+21This is where they took the pictures from... and if you view this link they are in a higher res too, not the small squares like on their site. http://www.worldwaronecolorphotos.com/
      • fingerrockets4, on 11/12/2009, -1/+5thanks
      • Alheithinn, on 11/12/2009, -1/+5Yes, thank you for linking this superior site.
      • 10lbhammer, on 11/12/2009, -1/+2thank you for linking to a site that actually explains what we're looking at in the photos instead of one person's thoughts about war...
    • bringitontimx, on 11/12/2009, -1/+7This picture showing blood wars...
  • MacBookForMe, on 11/11/2009, -1/+100What a human madness!
    In one day of the Battle of the Somme, 56,000 men died. A year later at Paschendale, 300,000 Allied British soldiers were killed.
    http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features/Haigthe-f ...
    • spworm, on 11/12/2009, -1/+19And with no tangible gain, because little did they know that less than 20 years later there would be much worse to come.
    • wilf_brim, on 11/12/2009, -1/+4If you RTFA, you will see that Haig was (and still is) a very controversial figure. He can't quite be easily pigeonholed into "good" or "bad". Keegan (quoted in the article) makes the point that all the large figures in WWI had some aspects of their personality to lend themselves to humanity: Foche had fire, Hindenburg had gravity, Ludendorff had intellect. Haig had none of these. And certainly the Paschendalle campaign should be remembered as one of the worst wastes of human life in recent history: even exceeding Verdun.
    • zacattac50, on 11/12/2009, -0/+2madness?
    • Fusi0n, on 11/12/2009, -0/+3To put it into perspective
      Thats 2x as many people who died in one day than the amount of people who clicked this article
      and that was almost a hundred years ago
    • maximilen, on 11/12/2009, -0/+2The 10+ minute long Iron Maiden song "Paschendale" paints a damn vivid picture of what it was like to be a young soldier out in the trenches, knowing you won't ever see your friends again. Check it out.
  • JoeNaguib, on 11/11/2009, -3/+80Lest we forget - now in technicolor.
    • mkriss5681, on 11/12/2009, -0/+2Technicolor is kinda like Kodachrome. I kinda miss the bright cheese look in old film.
  • TobiasParker, on 11/12/2009, -2/+64Amazing, i love color photography/videos from such a long time ago, it really helps to identify with the history. Sometimes it can be difficult to really imagine the events when you have still black and white images and 5fps videos that almost look stop-motion.
    • rolf, on 11/12/2009, -2/+39Color makes it seem like real people. B/W always made them less real, like illustrations in a history book without much connection to the present day.
    • bringitontimx, on 11/12/2009, -1/+3Precisely. The kodachrome collection that frontpaged a couple weeks ago exemplifies this for me greatly.
    • mkriss5681, on 11/12/2009, -2/+6Kodachrome
      They give us those nice bright colors
      They give us the greens of summers
      Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah
      I got a Nikon camera
      I love to take a photograph
      So mama don't take my Kodachrome away
    • digg-dugg, on 11/20/2009, -0/+1It's just too bad that these are all colorized. Although early color photography was available during wwi, it was extremely rare. The last time i saw this set of pictures on digg, probably two years ago, someone posted a linking explaining their origin, and the fact that they were colorized.
  • Egg333, on 11/12/2009, -0/+22That's some deep writing in those captions. Kinda depressing.
    • brownsound00, on 11/12/2009, -0/+6And to think that I got pissed off because I couldn't connect to wireless internet today.

      ... jeez.
    • Jektal, on 11/12/2009, -1/+2Yeah, like this gem: "...they often appear alongside monochrome photographs that have been retrospectively retouched in colour..."

      In retrospect, I believe they meant retroactively.
    • scrivener212, on 11/12/2009, -0/+5It should be depressing. This is the war we should be remembering--the really ugly one, not the great and shiny one. If WWI was the war that stood large in everyone's memory, I wonder if people would be in such a hurry to throw their kids into the next one, or the kids to go.
      • lostmessiah, on 11/15/2009, -0/+1WWII was shiny? Or did you mean Vietnam?

        I think maybe we read different history books.

        But I see your point. The Great War was not pretty, not in any way.
  • Frogger4Truth, on 11/12/2009, -67/+4world war one was formulated by the new world order.
    look it up sheeple!
    • TrevorBelmont, on 11/12/2009, -1/+24Can you please just stop it. We know you're a troll. It's obvious and it's tired.
      • Frogger4Truth, on 11/12/2009, -28/+2can't handle the truth, eh?
      • blindmelon1, on 11/12/2009, -1/+7Not a good time to make such pathetic accusations buddy. Show some ***** respect, sheesh.

    • kjava206, on 11/12/2009, -2/+6@frogger: Feel free to eat all the dicks...
  • inactive, on 11/12/2009, -49/+0fake
  • ChiffX, on 11/12/2009, -2/+43http://rorr.im
  • giveer, on 11/12/2009, -0/+128Perhaps it's just spending a lifetime associating "that time" with things that are old, grainy and black and white, but it never ceases to amaze me how more vivid my identification with that time occurs with the colour.. It really gives it a strong "it could have been yesterday" feeling.
    • FappleJacks, on 11/12/2009, -0/+6true, very true.
    • PhuzyBuny, on 11/12/2009, -0/+4In like 50 years, when people have hologram photos, they might look at our 2D colour photos and think our time was always flat.
  • darkphenox, on 11/12/2009, -0/+27I'm very surprised at the quality of the pictures I was expecting something alot more grainy and low quality, the pictures being so clear makes them more poignant.
    • Atario, on 11/13/2009, -0/+1It makes the smashed landscapes look suitably appalling.
  • SpazAttack5000, on 11/12/2009, -16/+7It truly was the war to end all wars.
    • kss42, on 11/12/2009, -0/+13Until the next one.
      • citizensARREST, on 11/12/2009, -0/+5nah those weren't wars. they were just large scale disagreements
      • inactive, on 11/12/2009, -5/+2Kind of like Major Hassan is not a terrorist but a "troubled individual"
  • Ubergoober3, on 11/12/2009, -11/+4kind of funny in a weird way that the battlefields were so devoid of color that these pictures, while awesome, don't have a lot of impact.
  • adremali, on 11/12/2009, -20/+3haha... fat black guy
  • Ghostwo, on 11/12/2009, -7/+52I think I saw a nude Bruce Willis....
    • inactive, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1I think I saw Biggles flying a helicopter
    • song0674, on 11/12/2009, -4/+1U liked Color of Night too? ;P
    • Ghostwo, on 11/12/2009, -0/+6"The scientists yank Cole back to 2035 and doubt his claim that he was sent to the wrong year. Another try sends him way back to a French battle trench in 1918, where he's wounded, and finally to the correct month in 1996 to intercept the 12 Monkey gang."

      http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s2955monk.html
    • datastorageguy, on 11/12/2009, -0/+2I lol'd
  • cruzweb, on 11/12/2009, -0/+34Fantastic stuff...this is one of the best things I've seen on Digg in a while
  • NICHOLASF, on 11/12/2009, -0/+14It's interesting to witness the level of realism color imaging brings to WWI. For some reason it makes the conflict seem all the more devastating, even if the linked images don't necessarily show violence themselves.
  • joculator, on 11/12/2009, -0/+16The death of the old world.
  • 4321234, on 11/12/2009, -0/+56The picture of Canadian soldiers surveying a destroyed German bunker can be seen on the wikipedia page on the 2nd Battle of Passchendaele (which I happened to be reading about earlier today). Also this incredible aerial photo of the town of Passchendaele before and after the battle.
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8 ...
  • akseitz, on 11/12/2009, -0/+10Very cool photos. I think there is a general perception that the World Wars were a battle of the Western world... these photos point out some extreme cultural differences.
  • Mangeof, on 11/12/2009, -0/+13Fitting for Remembrance Day 11/11
  • clondike7, on 11/12/2009, -22/+3These are all fakes made in PS. Everybody know people back then really in were black and white!

    /s
  • BowlingStone, on 11/12/2009, -1/+3Dugg for the guy with the pipe. Legendary.
  • dsenman, on 11/12/2009, -0/+65Also this amazing photo:
    http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/32cbg_hq/HQ/2009/Gall ...
    (two Germans with a Maxim machine gun. )
    • Cubeforce, on 11/12/2009, -0/+16The scary thing is that that picture looks totally fake, but (I would presume) isn't.
    • Greg2k, on 11/12/2009, -1/+2Zoidberg's ancestors.
    • IpecacNeat, on 11/12/2009, -0/+2That is a pretty awesome photo. I always thought that WWI was the most frightening thing ever. For some weird reason, I like pop culture references that use it. Music, video games, books, movies, it is usually very frightening. \ The alternate "limbo" from The Darkness was awesome. The video for "One" by Metallica. "All Quiet on The Western Front". The movie "Deathwatch". Etc.
  • austinscastle, on 11/12/2009, -18/+4United States, FTW!
  • intrepidia, on 11/12/2009, -0/+14And today, remembrance day is for the newly fallen.... they could have been digg users for all we know.....truly. Lest we forget.....
  • laim, on 11/12/2009, -7/+13what? i thought color wasn't invented until the 30's
    • Snoogs, on 11/12/2009, -0/+16Yup... the whole world was in black and white- photography hasn't actually changed... The 20's and 30's were transitional years where color started to form in nature. It started out sepia, then fully converted.
  • AlienMushroom, on 11/12/2009, -12/+3Gayway Time Out.
  • spworm, on 11/12/2009, -8/+1If W.W.I was lightening, the real thunder was still to come.
    • spearce, on 11/12/2009, -1/+18you should read up on WWI more. Probably one of the most miserable times in our history as a species. WWII ain't got nothing on the amount of death and strife experienced by the soldiers of WWI.
      I served in Afghanistan and Iraq and they were the worst experiences of my life in both terms of living conditions for extended periods of time and fear of dying at any moment.
      WWI is on another level 4 times removed from current wars.
      Here's a shovel. Go dig a trench in the mud in winter time Europe. The technology of death far exceeds the technology for comfort. Try to avoid the poisonous gas and falling bombs the enemy, who is 100's of yards away, is dropping on you. Run as fast as you can when your commander tells you to. There's a hole in the field a head of you. Stay low and fast as everyone around you gets mowed down by heavy machine gun fire. If you advance a few feet it is a good day.
      It's absolutely terrifying.
      The level of fear and discomfort are inexplicable.
      • danlowlite, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1I'd agree, but the WWII eastern Russian and German front were pretty horrific for sheer numbers, as well.
  • Zeigy, on 11/12/2009, -4/+45Buried as inaccurate the world was in black and white back then. Just look at any photograph or film from the 1910's.
  • DaltonZ, on 11/12/2009, -4/+5How about some high res versions?
  • snowblind113, on 11/12/2009, -0/+26http://www.worldwaronecolorphotos.com/ I posted this as a reply to the first comment, but if you would like to see more color shots, some of them higher res.. then please enjoy this link ( i hate how every environmental graffiti article is either a google images article or taken from another site //endrant )
  • inactive, on 11/12/2009, -3/+6Pretty much every conflict in the world to this day can still be traced back to this war in some way or another.
  • retsiem, on 11/12/2009, -2/+10the War To End All Wars...
  • sb66, on 11/12/2009, -0/+10Something tells me that either of those last 2 guys could easily kick your ass.
    • ifruit, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1That kid on the right looks about 16. I'm sure he could kick the majority today's youth asses for sure.
  • Joshislong, on 11/12/2009, -1/+17Looking at these photos gave me chills. These color pictures have a sense of realism that you just don't get with black and white. Awesome submission.
  • Arlo003, on 11/12/2009, -11/+2Woodrow Wilsons got us into that unnecessary war and changed our foreign policy forever for the worst.
    • Cannonballkid, on 11/12/2009, -0/+2Yeah thanks Woodrow for Afghanistan! You bum!
  • cowfish234, on 11/12/2009, -0/+6Even after most of the world has been turned into nuclear ash, even after the world governments have crumbled and the social infrastructure decays into anarchy, even when, after the greatest and most horrible war of all, the human race has every reason to band together in an effort to save one another from total annihilation -- they don't.

    War never changes.
  • mwrl, on 11/12/2009, -1/+7What a real war looks like.
  • AUeventer, on 11/12/2009, -6/+9Not dugg due to needless wordy and unnecessary commentary...I would have preferred captions to go along with the photos, not all that mindless rambling
  • thexder, on 11/12/2009, -8/+3Those are just screenshots from Call of Duty 7.
  • hiro24, on 11/12/2009, -4/+2DAMN YOU TED TURNER!!!!!
  • mstachiw, on 11/12/2009, -0/+9Somehow black & white makes photos timeless but color makes it relatable.
  • Alheithinn, on 11/12/2009, -1/+6The day we make our leaders start leading the troops into battle again...Bush would never have invaded Afghanistan or Iraq, and Obama would have had us out of Afghanistan the day he took office.
  • eddyb123, on 11/12/2009, -0/+4The first one brings to life World War I more than any other photo I've ever seen
  • wolfing, on 11/12/2009, -0/+12It's sad that most of the deaths happened trying to gain just a few feet more. Daily progress in that war usually was measured in yards, like, "today we lost 2000 men, but we gained 100 yards!" (only to retreat the same 100 yards the next day losing 2000 more men)
    • Snoogs, on 11/12/2009, -0/+5... digging zig-zagging trenches filled with your own blood and piss.
  • MatlasK, on 11/12/2009, -6/+0Images online aren't rare.
  • fairley7, on 11/12/2009, -8/+3The US alone has enough nukes to do this to the entire planet. Only there won't be anyone left standing.

    We can look at pictures like these, yet be blind to what they mean. After WWI and again after WWII many people said "Never again." Yet today, the US spends as much as the rest of the world on war, and is fighting a war 10,000 miles away in one of the world's poorest countries. If you prepare for war, then wars are inevitable. Will we continue to prepare for war until the cockroaches inherit Earth?
    • MikeL13, on 11/12/2009, -0/+4"If you prepare for war, then wars are inevitable"

      Are you not familiar with the Roman proverb: "Let him who desires peace prepare for war."?
    • KyotoWolf, on 11/12/2009, -0/+2^ Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus is the actual source for that quote
  • Syro, on 11/12/2009, -1/+5The old lie...

    Dulce et Decorum est
    Pro patria mori
    • Smokeydabear, on 11/12/2009, -0/+2It is not a great thing, indeed.
    • ZackM, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1Sed dulcius pro patria vivere et dulcissimum pro patria bibere ergo pro salute patriae bibamus

      More to my liking
      • aaronhoffmeyer, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori ...

        It is sweet and honorable to die for the fatherland.

        Sed dulcius pro patria vivere, et dulcissimum pro patria bibere. Ergo pro salute patriae bibamus ...

        But sweeter to live for the fatherland, and the sweetest to drink for the fatherland. Therefore, we drink in salute to the fatherland.
      • ZackM, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1Therefore let us drink (bibamus is subjunctive) for the health (salute is ablative of salus meaning health) of the fatherland (genative)

        Almost.
  • vestlandsfanden, on 11/12/2009, -0/+3The Great War
  • stripesonfire, on 11/12/2009, -2/+1pft. those are all shopped. i know cause i can see the pixels.
  • sputnikv, on 11/12/2009, -0/+2if its on the internet, its not rare
  • M0R4EUS, on 11/12/2009, -2/+1this post is inaccurate - the pictures are black and white photos, which are then painted. not so rare after all...
  • PointGiven, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1Really brings out the disgusting conditions on the Western Front. No Man's Land looks even more like a hellish wasteland than black and white photos can bring out.
  • FappleJacks, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1Has anyone else seen the commercials on A&E (maybe Discovery) about them showing WW2 footage in "HD"?!

    ....irrelevant but none the less this reminded me of that, but i didn't laugh at these photos like i laughed at that commercial.
  • pdxnick, on 11/12/2009, -2/+1rare color photography = painted

  • AmazingSteve, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1Dead link is dead...
  • calypsoschnitzl, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1Those people could be my great grand uncles.
    Let there never be another WW.
  • SuperGodAwesome, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1This is what keeps me on Digg.
  • Ferretman, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1Wow.
  • OandA, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1I know this is frowned upon. But isn't this like the 20th time this has appeared on front page of digg?
  • freshyill, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1They're not rare if they get posted on Digg every two months.
  • askantik, on 11/12/2009, -0/+2I think some of these were taken by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky. Even if they weren't, he has some awesome pics. A lot of those Russian color pics from this era that hit the frontpage a while back were by him, but he also took some other nice ones, including the only color photo of Tolstoy.
  • jprez, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1unreal
  • kelvintso2005, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1I smell Photoshop Hue/Saturation Tool.......
  • JonHs, on 11/12/2009, -1/+1Why not place color on all b/w photos with e.g: http://www.recolored.com/ or http://www.black-and-white-to-color.com/ - Anyone tried software like that?
  • FChicken, on 11/12/2009, -2/+1These color photographs keep getting older and older...
    I wonder when color photographs of the civil war.... or jesus christ begin to appear on digg.
  • Ultra42, on 11/12/2009, -0/+2I'm really wondering why isn't anyone making WW1 FPS's
    • hokie47, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1Because shooting only bolt action rifles is not much fun.
  • zaepg, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1Ive seen these before. They aren't actual color photographs, but rather have been digitally colored.

    Regardless though, the coloring job is extremely accurate. Oh, and its really cool.
  • alexdrod, on 11/13/2009, -0/+1I wish that captions better explained what we were looking at in each photo.

    Most of them are just full of fluff that doesn't really say a thing about who we are looking at.
  • carlosos, on 11/13/2009, -0/+1Is it just me or does the 3rd picture look like the church in one of the Day of Defeat maps?
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