Nowadays, photographers use black and white photography to convey emotion by playing with tones, contrasts, and shadows, but it wasn't always an option to choose. Color photography brings photographs to life and reveals every little vivid detail that creates a compelling image. Photographers from the past could only convey the world they were living in in black and grey. Have you ever wondered what these photographers saw that very moment? I have.

Digital artists spend hours trying to recreate old black and white photographs in realistic colors with impressive results—just check the incredible work of colorists Marina Amaral, Andrea Erali, or Olga Shirinina previously featured on Bored Panda. It's intricate and time-consuming work that requires not only great editing skills, but a lot of knowledge and research of historical context to color the image as accurately as possible.

I wondered if, with the fast advancement of artificial intelligence and machine learning, this scrupulous job can be done by technology as well as by humans. Well, only time can tell, but it seems like the future is near. I have found this image colorization API called DeepAI that allows you to colorize black and white photos and videos in a few seconds.

I tested the program with these iconic B&W images of celebrities from the golden age of Hollywood. The result is far from perfect and in most cases needs to be at least touched up in Photoshop or other programs, but I was surprised by how much a deep learning model can achieve!

More info: deepai.org

#1 Audrey Hepburn

Image credits: doctormacro

I love all arts and entertainment. I have been drawing pencil portraits since I was a child, and later, I discovered digital art and started participating in several Photoshop contests. But I can't wait to see what technology can offer—that's why I explore what's new in the industry and try it myself. I have recently played with AI to see what the kids of famous ex-couples would have looked like.

I also regularly post articles on Bored Panda about the most amazing artists I come across, both world-class and aspiring, as well as animal stories. Putting their art in the spotlight makes me proud and inspired. Check out some of the recent posts I made here, here, and here.