[logifail]

(Genuine) question, and no snark intended: why do so many people want to change history?

Black and white photos are - for many of us - part of our shared historical record. Is there really a need to improve (=change) them? Can't we appreciate them exactly as they are, without modifications?

[croes]

Some use picture to imagine how life was back then. Life wasn't black and white.

Same with the facial expressions in old photos. People look pretty serious but that's just because of the technology pf photography back then. People were as silly and joyful as nowadays.

[logifail]

> Some use picture to imagine how life was back then. Life wasn't black and white.

Life (time) doesn't tend to stand still, either, yet we are able to appreciate photographs.

Would we really benefit from old photographs being AI-animated into "videos"?

Perhaps I'm showing my age, but the older I get the more I feel at one with life's imperfections. I'm fine without filters and HDR ... or colour ... or motion.

[croes]

>Would we really benefit from old photographs being AI-animated into "videos"?

Some people seem to think that

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26279372

[npteljes]

I think that the filters, HDR, or the guesswork restorations of old media are similarly life's imperfections - just that the life is more current, compared to the original date of taking these photos.

[kevmo314]

> Would we really benefit from old photographs being AI-animated into "videos"?

Yeah that would be pretty cool.

[ddrdrck_]

> People look pretty serious but that's just because of the technology pf photography back then

This is a known misconception. People on old pictures are not smiling because they liked it this way, not because of long exposure times. Same for paintings. Except for Mona Lisa, you were supposed to be dead serious when being immortalized on picture for generations to come.

[gitgud]

Sounds similar to police mugshots, you don't want to be smiling or too happy as future generations may mock you...

[roywiggins]

The impulse to colorize monochrome photos goes back almost as long as photography itself.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand-colouring_of_photographs#...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand-colouring_of_photographs#...

It depends on the photo, obviously, but colorization can also give a new dimension of contrast to a photo, even if the colors aren't strictly accurate, by separating out the foreground from the background better.

[logifail]

> The impulse to colorize monochrome photos goes back almost as long as photography itself

Impulse? A strange word to choose. Impulsive behaviour isn't what I'd aspire to, or want others to aspire to. Be thoughtful.

[roywiggins]

I was using it in the sense of definition 1b, a propensity or natural tendency usually other than rational: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impulse

People have liked colorizing photographs for a long time, it's a natural tendency even though it may or may not be rational.

[wilg]

Who are you scolding and why?

[npteljes]

>Is there really a need to improve (=change) them?

Yes, there is. They offer a specifically degraded perspective into the past - namely, the loss of color. I do appreciate them as they are, and I also think that the effort to use them as inputs for current technology is also very interesting. I think that seeing these photos, the past in color, helps to humanize the subjects of the photo, and see them, and their environment in a more accessible, realistic way.

I'd like to present this collection of real color photographs that date far back - I think they are really interesting to look at, because we're so used to the black and white version of the clothes, technology, buildings from back then.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/gabrielsanchez/oldest-c...

[fortysixdegrees]

Nothing is being changed. After using the tool you still have the original, plus a new version which can be used alongside

[Kuinox]

Most people see the life in color and are not used to black and white images. Color give way more depth and understanding.

[kristopolous]

To me at least, it's just entertainment. Do you find it offensive to the past?