> it had never occurred to me that, you know, people of that time did live in color too just like we do.
I think this is an important (and common) note. Especially when you look at the time-frame of most of the images and video we have being only ~100 years old (20th century). That sounds like a long time ago. B&W photos make that feel like a long time ago. But in reality, that's when your great grandma was born. That's not many people ago. In one respect it is accurate to say 100 years was a long time ago but saying it wasn't is also equally valid. While tech has changed a lot in that time, it is hard to say people have. By upscaling and colorizing these photos it makes it feel much more recent. If we accept that long and not long ago are equally valid takes, then we'd have to accept that both these ways of presenting historical information (a picture is information) are valid too. But they do tell different stories, and it is important to remember that.
I think this is an important (and common) note. Especially when you look at the time-frame of most of the images and video we have being only ~100 years old (20th century). That sounds like a long time ago. B&W photos make that feel like a long time ago. But in reality, that's when your great grandma was born. That's not many people ago. In one respect it is accurate to say 100 years was a long time ago but saying it wasn't is also equally valid. While tech has changed a lot in that time, it is hard to say people have. By upscaling and colorizing these photos it makes it feel much more recent. If we accept that long and not long ago are equally valid takes, then we'd have to accept that both these ways of presenting historical information (a picture is information) are valid too. But they do tell different stories, and it is important to remember that.