I’m working on a longer article about democratizing AI for artists, but in the process of writing that article, I started using Runway ML and Jason Antic’s deep learning project DeOldify to colorize old black-and-white photos of artists - I couldn’t stop. So I decided to share an “eye candy” article as a preview of my longer piece.

When I was growing up, artists, and particularly twentieth century artists, were my heroes. There is something about only ever having seen many of them in black and white that makes them feel mythical and distant. Likewise, something magical happens when you add color to the photo. These icons turn into regular people who you might share a pizza or beer with.

That distance begins to collapse a bit and they come to life. The Picasso photo above, for example, always made me think of him as a this cool guy who hung out in his underwear all the time. But the colorized version makes him seem a bit frail and weak, and maybe even a tinge creepy.

Photos of artist couples, in general, seem to really hammer home their humanity. I think it is because so many photos of artists seem staged or posed. But when we catch them with their spouse or lover, they are their relaxed selves for a candid moment. You can almost imagine inviting them over to play cards.