The Lowcountry in Living Color

Making Historical Photographs Come to Life

June 7 – October 31, 2021 | Lowcountry Image Gallery

Ready, Set, Go! c. 1925
Old Battery Dairy Dock
Morton Brailsford Paine (1883-1940)

Over 90 percent of the photographs housed in the Museum’s Archives are black and white. And while many viewers find them historically charming, others find it difficult to see particular details within the image. By colorizing a black and white photograph, certain components otherwise overlooked, become visible.

For years, photograph colorization was used mainly by high tech production companies. Recently however, computer programmers have created colorization operating systems that use Artificial Intelligence. Modeled after the human brain, the AI software can recognize objects in a photograph and determine their likely colors. Although, it can still be time consuming, colorizing a historical photograph is now more accessible to everyday users.

Be sure to stop by the Lowcountry Image Gallery to view a select few black & white photographs through a new lens!

Catch of the Day, c. 1934
Wharf
George Robert Lunz, Jr. (1909-1969)

Firemen’s Tournament, December 5, 1902
Cannon and Felix Streets
Morton Brailsford Paine (1883-1940)

Teeing Off, c. 1905
Belvidere Plantation
Morton Brailsford Paine (1883-1940)

Building a Bridge, March 7, 1929
Town Creek Span
Walter Rhett Bacot (1899-1978)

Down the Homestretch, November 28, 1936
Belvidere Plantation
Morton Brailsford Paine (1883-1940)

The software used for this exhibit included Computer Vision from Mail.ru and Deep AI along with Photoshop 2020 to blend and adjust where needed.