Black-and-white photos have a timeless charm, but seeing them in color can completely change how we relate to history. Suddenly, the distant past feels closer and more real. French artist Sébastien de Oliveira has a talent for bringing vintage images to life with vibrant colors. His work transforms old photos into something fresh and vivid, revealing details and emotions that were previously hidden. We’ve compiled 20 of his latest creations—each one offering a unique perspective on the history you thought you knew.
Related: Admire Some of History’s Finest Photos Reimagined in Color
1. A US soldier takes a break near Château-Thierry, France, August 1944. Life Magazine Archives
2. Scrabble inventor Alfred Butts (left) and promoter James Brunot posing with an oversized game, November 1953
3. Tuileries Garden, Paris, May 1923
4. Preparing for the landing, 1944
5. 1940 Life Magazine “Miami & Miami Beach Winter Boom”
6. Moulin Rouge, Paris, 1925
7. Opel Kapitan, 1951
8. American soldiers of the XXth Corps of the Third Army and some FFI with German prisoners in front of a Gothic cathedral during the Liberation of Chartres, France, August 19, 1944
9. 15-cent photo booth in the lobby at the United Nations Service Center at Washington, D.C., December 1943
10. Joan Crawford in Letty Lynton, 1932
11. Catherine Deneuve, 1964
12. Girl posing, 1955
13. Buster Keaton and his dog, 1929
14. Puppeteers Daniel Seagren (left) and Jim Henson (center) holding and working Ernie, And Frank Oz (right) with Bert in a Sesame Street rehearsal, c. 1970
15. Al Anderson and Ot Huston, 1910
16. Actress Barbara Laage enjoying ice cream in Paris, 1946
17. Street in New York, 1954
18. Traffic officer ticketing a badly parked car on the Champs-Elysées, Paris
19. A greyhound bus trip from Louisville, Kentucky, to Memphis, Tennessee, and the Terminals, September 1943
20. Marines in training on tank - Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, c. 1943
