Bringing Photography to Life: History Colorized and Animated with Matt Loughrey

This week I had a delightful chat with Mr. Matt Loughrey about the intersection of historical photography and 21st century technology. I’ve been following Matt on Insta for a while now and I am really taken with his work: Matt’s colorization technique is some of the best I’ve seen and his innovations in terms of animating historical images are quite captivating. I’ll admit that I have been skeptical in the past when it comes to photographic “enhancement,” as it were, but after a review of his work, introducing it to my own students, and speaking with Matt at length, I am now convinced that such work indeed has great value. Have a listen to the episode, we discuss…

• Civil War Era images (and others), technology, and how the intersection of the two can enrich the historical narrative

• Critics of colorization and other technological enhancements

• Using these images in a classroom setting

• Matt’s latest work in conjunction with the Ellis Island historical site.

Matt lives in Co. Mayo, Ireland and works out of his studio there. Apart from his work with historical photography, he enjoys cooking and sending time with his family - especially his two sons who are quite enthusiastic about their father’s work! Young historians in the making perhaps…?. Please give Matt a follow on Instagram and have a good look at his work. I think you will find, as I did, that it adds a deeper level of humanity to the subject…and if anything, has inspired me to look further at the history.

With compliments,

Keith

Matt Loughrey and company :)