Artist Breathes New Life Into Photos Of US Presidents Who Lived Before Color Photography (26 Pics)

 Photos often shape the way we look at people we don't know. But if a person died a long time ago and the only remaining portraits of them are damaged black-and-whites, we might not get the full picture of their presence. That's where restorers and colorists come in. They bring to life the damaged and grey images, allowing us to see their subjects in a new light.

James Berridge is one of them and he's doing one heck of a job. Recently, he released a project that had been in the making for quite some time and really highlights his skills.

Towards the end of last year, Berridge received a request to work on an image of Abraham Lincoln. After he was done, Berridge posted the completed, full-color image of Lincoln online and was really surprised by the response it received. The comments in particular really caught him off guard. Multiple people were praising him saying, "I've never really been able to see Abraham Lincoln as an actual person before now."

The positive reaction to the picture of Lincoln led to his decision to not just work on coloring another president but to work on coloring every president who only lived in black and white. 100 hours or so later, this is what he ended up with. 

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Andrew Jackson, 7th President 1829-1837

 

Abraham Lincoln, 16th President 1861-1865

 

Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President 1901-1909

John Quincy Adams, 6th President 1825-1829

 

David Rice Atchison (1849)

Martin Van Buren, 8th President 1837-1841

 

John Tyler, 10th President 1841-1845

Millard Fillmore, 13th President 1850-1853

William Henry Harrison, 9th President 1841 - Died After 31 Days Of Pneumonia

 

James Buchanan, 15th President 1857-1861

William Howard Taft, 27th President 1909-1913

Zachary Taylor, 12th President 1849-1850

 

Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President 1869-1877

 

Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President 1877-1881

James K. Polk, 11th President 1845-1849

 

Woodrow Wilson, 28th President 1913-1921

 

Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President 1889-1893

 

Andrew Johnson, 17th President 1865-1869

Warren G. Harding, 29th President 1921-1923

William Mckinley, 25th President 1897-1901

 

Calvin Coolidge, 30th President 1923-1929

 

Franklin Pierce, 14th President 1853-1857

James A. Garfield, 20th President 1881

 

Chester A. Arthur, 21st President 1881-1885

Grover Cleveland, 22nd And 24th President 1885-1889

Herbert Hoover, 31st President 1929-1933