Should we colour black and white photos?

[tomkin]

                          Such artistry, such beauty, Leonardo couldn't have painted a better picture

      of delectable still life such as this. Is their an emoji for drooling

                       And imagine if this work of art was B&W   Yuck!!!!!!!!

[Elliven]

My personal preference is to leave them black and white.  A well coloured photograph can be pleasing to the eye but it loses the atmosphere and sense of history in the process.  I have reversed the process in my own collection - some of my photos were coloured at the time that they were taken and they look awful so I have converted them back to black and white.

[Berlin-Bob]

A well coloured photograph can be pleasing to the eye but it loses the atmosphere and sense of history in the process. 

Just saw this in the Guardian today:
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/oct/21/english-heritage-colours-the-past-before-and-after
Maybe not strictly relevant to this topic, as these are not photos of family and ancestors, but, ....  fits in well with Elliven's comment.

Bob

[tomkin]

       

some of my photos were coloured at the time that they were taken and they look awful so I have converted them back to black and white.

                   Therefore you have altered a historic picture to suit your preference

[Treetotal]

It's all about personal preference, many people who post photos on here and request colour, do so because they think it brings the subjects to life. Many want to connect with their ancestors to see if there is any family resemblance and colouring often does that. They still have the original photo for future reference.
Carol

[Elliven]

I think Carol has hit the nail on the head.  It is all a matter of personal preference AND you still have the original photo so there is nothing lost.  I have seen examples of her work and they are superb but I have also seen examples of a local "expert" and they are awful with colours that are often too intense and look as bad as some of the wartime hand coloured photos like my parents' wedding photos where my Dad had pink cheeks! (Normal for him was suntanned from working outside).

[Gadget]

Tomkin is just stirring it.

 

[waynenort]

I tried the reverse here with a pic of me mum.  So the one on the left was coloured by hand back in the 1940s and the photo I remember looking at as a child.  Out of curiosity, I did a quick converted to b/w (& sepia) in photoshop.

Since the hand-coloured version brings back fond memories growing up, it's the one I prefer for this particular photo.

Generally, I prefer sepia - but yeah, it's a personal preference.