A Look Back at the Forgotten Art of Hand-Tinted Photography

This beautiful short film reminds us about a part of the photographic process that most of the people reading this will have never experienced: hand-tinting. Revisit the age of hand-tinted photography through the eyes of 83-year-old Grace Rawson, a professional colorist from the 1950s.

Grace was one of the original master colorists for Leo White of Whites Aviation in the 1950’s. For his Scenic series, White travelled all over New Zealand capturing the country’s stunning landscapes; but it was his colorists back in Auckland who breathed life into these black and white images later using paint and a skilled eye.

“The hand-tinted photographic landscapes of Whites Aviation have become celebrated icons of New Zealand’s mid-century culture. But few still know that each photograph was individually coloured by hand,” explain directors Greg Wood and Peter Alsop. “83-year-old Grace Rawson provides a new perspective on the work when she picks up the cotton wool one more time to showcase the wonderful aesthetic of a lost art.”

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The short doc is a nostalgic homage to this beautiful combination of two forms of art. A look back at a forgotten art in and of itself, through the eyes of one of its most skilled practitioners.

(via Loading Docs vis DigitalRev)