Colorizing old black and white photographs has been made easier in the past several years due to advances in technology such as Photoshop. Professional artists have been able to use their skills to bring life back to historic images of prominent figures and scenes. More than 150 years after the last battle of the American Civil War, one can all but feel that they are right on the battlefield by browsing through colorized images of the event. Images ranging from portraits of former presidents, including Abraham Lincoln, to iconic images, such as those of the Great Depression, can easily be found in color via a quick Google search. However, it is not only the important moments in history that benefit from colorization. When skilfully executed, colorized images can draw people back into a time and place far removed from the modern era. Below is a photograph taken on Cobbett's Pond in 1933, which has been colorized with such attention to detail that it looks like it could've been taken yesterday.
Helen Obst and her four children: (right to left) Wilfrid, Raymond, Dorothy, and Mildred.
Advances in machine learning have led to the development of software that can colorize a black and white image. While the available software produces results far from the work done by an individual artist, they can produce interesting results. The best such program is: http://demos.algorithmia.com/colorize-photos/ and will colorize an uploaded photo within seconds.