Seeing the past in a different light

How colorization has breathed new life into black and white history

In the modern world of social media, photo-sharing and celebrity, sharing an image of an executed murder plotter from the 19th century may sound like a strange thing to do, but that was the unlikely starting point for what has turned out to be one of the biggest publishing hits of the year.

The photo in question was an image of Lewis Powell, hanged in 1865 for his part in the plot to kill then-US president Abraham Lincoln, and when photo colorist Marina Amaral digitally colored the picture and shared it, the response was overwhelming.