Hidden Histories: Colourising Old Images

If you have wandered into a bookshop - perhaps to buy your copy of Henrietta Street, from Tenement to Suburbia? Or even Enda the Road, Nine Days That Toppled A Taoiseach? - you will probably have seen, or perhaps even bought, a copy of Old Ireland in Colour by John Breslin and Sarah-Anne Buckley which has been a real charttopper since its release. A similar book, The Colour of Ireland, compiled by Rob Cross - whose work you might already have seen on Twitter - is also poised to do pretty well.
But they’re works that spark considerable debate because not everyone is so convinced about the merits of taking older images and restoring - or perhaps reimagining - their colour. To some it has entertainment value, to others educational value, and some maintain perhaps neither. the debate is not one that began on social media, but has been on-going for decades across the world.
Donal Fallon joined Gavan this morning and he’s written the introduction for Rob Cross’s collection, The Colour of Ireland… but it’s one of two introductions. One is more positive about colourising old photos, the other… not so much.
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