Swedish artist Sanna Dullaway has revisited a series of world famous black and white photographs and given them a high resolution colour makeover.
The simple idea has produced some fascinating results, as images we’ve grown desensitised to after decades of reproduction take on a new sense of life.
Take for example Timothy H O’Sullivan’s image from the Battle of Gettysbury in 1863. The image is so synonymous with the history of the American Civil War, it has inevitably lost some of its impact. But freshly rendered in colour, the original horror of the shot is revisited upon the viewer.
Elsewhere the effect is more playful.
Quintessential shots of historical figures like Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln are transported to another era when viewed in colour, toying with our sense of the past.
Other iconic photographs Dullaway has modified include a shot of Che Guevara and a Viet Cong prisoner being executed on the street.
One commentator for MSN described the project as ‘blasphemous’ and a ‘gimmick’.
What do you think? Has Dullaway gone too far, or is this an interesting way to revitalise old photographs? Let us know below!