The Basics of Hand-Coloring Black-and-White Prints

The practice of hand-coloring black-and-white photographs can be traced all the way back to the days of daguerreotypes, which predates Instagram creative filters by about 180-plus years. In a bid to add life to the putty-like tonality of many of the earliest print technologies, photographers would very carefully brush thin layers of color pigments mixed with gum arabic (or quicker-drying mixtures containing alcohol) onto the cheeks, hair, and outerwear of portrait sitters. With the advent of paper print processes and tintypes, the use of transparent photo oils, dyes, and pencils became the media of choice for bringing color to black-and-white photographs.
Commercial applications of hand-coloring also found their way into use early on. Toward the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of 20th Century, color lithographic postcards of popular tourist attractions and holiday destinations came into vogue, which opened up new avenues for working photographers.

Hand-colored photographs © 2020 Allan Weitz