Some 80 works have been submitted since mid-May and the time has come to announce the winners of RT’s colorization contest running as part of #Romanovs100 – a photo project dedicated to the last reigning Romanov family.

Every participant could choose from three photos that Brazilian colorization artist Marina Amaral selected for the contest. Then it was up to the contestant whether to color just one, or several.

First prize went to Gavin Daniel Wieszala for a photo of Nicholas II with Alexei.

Nikitamarvel_art took silver for his take on Olga’s portrait.

While ikonaut GmbH came in third place for coloring in a photo of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna standing in a field.

“These were chosen for several factors, including attention to detail, color choices, realism and respect for the original photograph. Colorization of photos is an art through which we can express ourselves, but we must always keep in mind that they are also historical documents, and therefore we cannot modify and/or distort the items that are present (or not) in the images.” Marina Amaral told RT.

An experienced artist in the field, Amaral just had her book The Colour of Time: A New History of the World, 1850-1960 published. In 2017, she collaborated with the same #Romanovs100 team during the realization of #1917LIVE, she added color to some iconic images from the Russian Revolution.

“When colorizing photographs, we seek to add colors that are as realistic and historically accurate as possible, never distorting facts or introducing elements that were not previously part of the scene. All the contestants did a great job, and it was fun to observe the differences between each photo sent!” Marina assessed her experience as a judge during the contest.

While the winners will receive two books each: #1917LIVE and Marina’s The Colour Of Time, #Romanovs100 would also like to honor Egor Borozdin with a special prize for most ‘likes’ on Facebook. He also gets a copy of the #1917LIVE book.

Arina Yurchenko, Jack Wengrow (11 and 13 years old respectively) and Irina Sneg, who made a real painting of Olga instead of colorizing her picture, also receive #1917LIVE books.

Congratulations to all the winners and participants! All the contestants are welcome to receive a special edition #Romanovs100 postcard – just send us a direct message on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and we will get them to you.

#Romanovs100 is a digital photo-puzzle unveiling the lives of Nicholas II & his family through some 4,000 photographs from their private albums. It will run until the 17th of July, marking 100 years to the day since the family was executed by the Bolsheviks.