We see history in black and white. That might sound absurd, but think about it. When I ask you to picture Paris a century ago, what do you see? A greyscale Eiffel Tower? A monochromatic Champs-Élysées? We visualize a world devoid of color because that’s the only image that’s ever been introduced to our mind’s eye.
And the effect often culminates in a sense of distance. It’s natural to compartmentalize the past and present because they’re perceived as being two totally different things. We’ve all seen what happens when historians restore color to black-and-white photographs, but there’s one set of century-old images taken in Paris that were actually developed in color. These color photographs — all of which were taken in 1914 by Leon Gimpel, Stephane Passet, Georges Chevalier, and Auguste Leon — will help you build a stronger connection with the past.
(via BoredPanda)
It’s easy to think about the past with an “us-and-them” mentality, especially when our contemporary world is so full of color and light. These images, however, force us to consider the fact that we’re not so different from these people at all. Life 100 years ago was definitely not lacking in the vibrance department.
The site has been experiencing a few difficulties, but if you want to learn more about this series, head over to Paris 1914 for more information.