Big Jay McNeely, Los Angeles, 1953. Original photo: Bob Willoughby, colourised by traquea on Reddit.

Is it the absence of colour that strips the subject of humanity in black and white photos or is it my brain?

Collected by Twisted Sifter from the darkest corners of reddit, these famous shots from history have been colourised. It lends them a poignancy that ploughs through my objective, vaguely vacuous dislocation like a freight train.

This is really inconvenient. I don’t have much spare time as it is and now I have to go back and learn all the things again. Only this time, I’ll be paying attention.

The aftermath of a bombing raid, 1945. Original photo: Toni Frissell, colourised by HansLucifer. 

Albert Einstein, 1939. Colorized by Edvos on Reddit.

Unemployed worker, 1939. Colourised by zuzahin on Reddit.

Joseph Goebbels meets Alfred Eisenstaedt, a Jewish photographer, 1933. Original Image: Time & Life Pictures. Colourised by zuzahin on Reddit.