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64 Comments
- aB0z, on 03/10/2009, -0/+45Very surreal to see them in true color. The modern mind is only accustomed to seeing these scenes in movies, played by actors. Much more powerful than colorized black&white photos too.
- ComicChic, on 03/11/2009, -0/+19Wow... it's amazing how much those look like movie mockups of the time... I'd expect the reality to be so far off.
- jordantneff, on 03/11/2009, -0/+16I hate to be the one to bring this up, but did anyone else notice that in the picture with the workers in lines the line all the way to the right is only black guys?
These pictures look so sharp and amazing that you forget how old they are and then you see that and realize that things were still segregated. Pretty crazy. - WhoDoneIt, on 03/11/2009, -1/+15As a photographer, it's absolutely amazing that seeing old photos in colour makes one feel like they can relate in time to what we are seeing today. Everything seems more plausible and realistic.
And I prefer to shoot in black and white. - allah6464, on 03/11/2009, -0/+11These kinds of photographs always fascinate me. To anyone interested, http://www.shorpy.com/ has a pretty amazing collection from the LOC and other sources as well.
- WillisDickfit, on 03/11/2009, -0/+11Literally.
- RAAFStupot, on 03/11/2009, -0/+10There is one significant difference.
I couldn't identify one obese person.
And those cakes look good! - Harbinger67, on 03/11/2009, -0/+9What was most striking to me is how the people in the pictures really didn't look any different from anyone you'd see today (aside from their clothes etc obviously). That sounds stupid, but I think in our minds eye we imagine people from 'back then' to look...different.
- BossKey, on 03/11/2009, -0/+8The cakes probably *were* good, probably made using ingredients we 21st century citizens would call "organic," "natural" and "non-GMO," but which back then were considered "traditional."
- inactive, on 03/10/2009, -0/+7Very cool.
- FI5HERMAN, on 03/10/2009, -0/+7I am impressed....thanks for sharing this !!!
- AndrewJC, on 03/11/2009, -1/+8One interesting thing I found was how much more modern the people looked in color. As odd as it sounds, looking at pictures from past generations in black and white, you can TELL that they're past generations. That one of the guy drilling? If you'd been told that it was done with a modern DSLR of a guy last week, you wouldn't have questioned it. But put it on old, faded black & white photo paper and all of a sudden he LOOKS like he belonged in the '40s.
- MasterGrief, on 03/11/2009, -0/+6I like taking black and white photographs too, but watch out: The road to pretentiousness is paved in grayscale.
- tmyprod, on 03/11/2009, -0/+6There is something about old photos, that even poorly composed snapshots are still fascinating.
- deadasdisco, on 03/11/2009, -0/+6congratulations. somehow you brought obama into this. didn't think it could be done.
- BossKey, on 03/11/2009, -0/+6from Calvin and Hobbes (I can't find the actual strip of this dialogue)...
Calvin: How come old photographs are always black and white? Didn’t they have color film back then?
Calvin's dad: Sure they did. In fact, those old photographs are in color. It’s just that the world was black and white then. The world didn’t turn color until sometime in the 1930s, and it was pretty grainy color for a while, too.
Calvin: But then why are old paintings in color?! If the world was black and white, wouldn’t artists have painted it that way?
Calvin's dad: Not necessarily. A lot of great artists were insane.
Calvin: But… But how could they have painted in color anyway? Wouldn’t their paints have been shades of gray back then?
Calvin's dad: Of course, but they turned colors like everything else did in the ’30s.
Calvin: So why didn’t old black and white photos turn color too?
Calvin's dad: Because they were color pictures of black and white, remember? - inactive, on 03/11/2009, -0/+6Our minds are definitely used to seeing pics like this in black and white.
These pics somehow bring those people closer to being real for me. Strange. - MasterGrief, on 03/11/2009, -0/+6Well, look at the women. Men haven't changed hardly at all over the years, but you can nearly always spot a woman in her era. Constantly changing standards of beauty are to blame, I suppose, but sometimes you do find someone in a vintage picture who still looks pretty good. For example, the girl on the left here:
http://www.shorpy.com/node/5248 - bkraj, on 03/11/2009, -0/+5Not much more to say than these are phenomenal. Thanks.
- Drull, on 03/11/2009, -0/+5I don't think you're able to grasp his comment.
- mtosspot, on 03/11/2009, -0/+5Fantastic collection of photos. Technically amazing with razor sharp focus, incredible detail and great composition. A great window 60 years into the past.
These photos aren't colorized -- if you follow the link in the collection at the Library of Congress you can see that this collection used color photography. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsachtml/fsowhome.html - tkeajax, on 03/11/2009, -0/+4Kodachrome film is the *****. The saturation, and contrast qualities are so unique. I still haven't found the formula to replicate it digitally.
- AndrewJC, on 03/11/2009, -0/+4Think you need to double check your sources there. From the Library of Congress website that the pictures came from:
"The color photographs of the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Collection include scenes of rural and small-town life, migrant labor, and the effects of the Great Depression. A significant number of the color photographs concern the mobilization effort for World War II and portray aircraft manufacturing, military training, and the nation's railroads. The 1,600 color photographs produced by the FSA and OWI photographers are less well known and far less extensive than the 164,000 black-and-white photographs in the collection. "
Doesn't say anything about colorizing the prints. What's more, a quick Wikipedia search on "Color Photography" yields a timeline that states that Kodachrome 35mm still film was released in 1936. So it's entirely conceivable that these are NOT "colorized", even moreso because the LoC page specifically states that they are "color photographs". - JDanner3, on 03/11/2009, -0/+4These are so cool. It really is amazing to see these in color. There are over 2000 of them on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/s ...
- zervoslives, on 03/11/2009, -0/+4These are some of the only truly interesting images I've seen on the internet this year. These are incredible. Also- this reminds me: Isn't it time to get the National Endowment for the Arts back?
- WhoDoneIt, on 03/11/2009, -0/+3Wise words and I understand you loud and clear. I do shoot and sell both.
80% of my sales are colour, you get the rest. But I still prefer black and white. - Drull, on 03/11/2009, -0/+3You do realize there is a pretty small limit for the number of characters in a submission title?
I guess you do, seeing as how 1 out of your 3 total submissions, use acronyms in the title. - rameznabel, on 03/11/2009, -0/+314 is not enough, more please
and i want to know if this old photos was colorized by photoshop or it is original color photos - MasterGrief, on 03/11/2009, -0/+3When I saw this article, I knew that if I didn't see it mentioned, I'd do it myself. Shorpy's great.
If you want to see really high quality color photos from around the forties, look at the subset of Shorpy called 4x5 Kodachromes: http://www.shorpy.com/4x5-large-format-kodachromes
The one called "Big Muddy" particularly stands out to me. http://www.shorpy.com/node/3647 - mx13punk, on 03/11/2009, -0/+2Thank you very much for this link. Amazing works here.
- MasterGrief, on 03/11/2009, -0/+2Thanks, and that's good, on all accounts.
I know digg hates someone who plugs their stuff, but do you have a flickr or something? I wanna see what you have. - themastersb, on 03/11/2009, -1/+3Everyone knows that the world didn't have any colour until sometime around the mid 1930s
- DeathRay2K, on 03/11/2009, -1/+3Care to clarify?
- andersleet, on 03/11/2009, -0/+2gorgeous shots.
- tr0j, on 03/11/2009, -0/+2Pic # 9 "Barbeque dinner at the Pie Town, New Mexico Fair, 1940" I found particularly interesting, if not moving. These cakes etc. are all home made, not shop-bought. So people have gone to some trouble when money was not too abundant, to do their best. It captures a vulnerability in times of hardship. Add to that the chap out of focus in the middle in the background, behind the smiling boy, who looks a little down on his luck, so to speak, and could probably do with a feed. Given the recent bushfires in my country, it reminds me of the moments of humanity that reveal how very alike we all are in our basic emotional and survival needs. Excellent pics.
/2c - matude, on 03/11/2009, -0/+2Why would you hate being the one who brought it up? It's a good observation about an interesting old photo.
- shaelen, on 03/11/2009, -0/+2Are you really this mislead, or are you trying to create any other ***** up idea to avoid the reality that people voted for Obama because he was the right man for the job?
Yeah, that's what I thought. - maynardw, on 03/11/2009, -0/+1I was thinking the same thing. These look like they were taken yesterday on some movie set. Awesome.
- masterstghm, on 03/11/2009, -0/+1When I look at these pictures, I feel that they are frames from movies. The people in them look like actors in costume. Probably because most old pictures I see are fuzzy, black and white, and distorted.
- mtosspot, on 03/11/2009, -0/+1Actually, 70 years back :)
- uRmyHartBstopR, on 03/11/2009, -0/+1Whoa! I saw the dates and I thought to myself, "That can't be right, they don't have color camera.." Well I'm wrong and I'm happy I am, cause those pictures are amazing and so vibrant in colors!
- jmkiii, on 03/11/2009, -0/+1More!
- wondertwins, on 03/11/2009, -0/+13rd to last pic looks like engineer from TF2
- zioxide, on 03/11/2009, -0/+1You win.
- Confusinator, on 03/13/2009, -0/+1I'm always wondering how everyday things looked a long time ago.
- zoor, on 03/11/2009, -1/+2Mirror:
http://www.imagevat.com/tagg.php?tag=FSA-OWI&y ... - stinkypinky72, on 03/11/2009, -0/+1Nobody was fat back then.
- ParrotEagle, on 03/11/2009, -0/+1Wow. That girl on the left looks like a young Jeanne Tripplehorn from Big Love and Basic Instinct among other things. That one on the right though....eh, not so much.
http://www.hbo.com/biglove/cast/character/barbara_ ... -
Show 51 - 66 of 66 discussions
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