Rare WW2 color photos on LIFE.com

http://www.life.com …er-d-day-in-color#index/0

Very interesting indeed--the quality of the first one reminds me of watching MASH. Look at the heavy vignetting of that 3rd picture Wish there were more pictures and video from WW2 in color.

Ah Kodachrome, how we miss you so much.

I'm just amazed by the color these images have. Very impressive and strong images.

Awesome photos.

thanks for the link... spent a few hours looking around at all the pics...

There are other sites with early color images:
http://www.warcolorpho​tos.com/

Unfortunately, the quality can't compare to the stuff on the Life site. It's a darn shame that kodachrome wasn't more widely available in the 40's.

The LIFE images are almost surreal as, at least for me, I'm used to seeing older era photos in B&W, that seeing these in colour makes the more real...I guess in the way that when I was a kid, when you seen old shows or movies and they were B&W, my then kid-brain thought that colour only existed in my or my parents age, haha!

It absolutely makes the war seem 'real' to a young person (24) like myself...

B&W images naturally carry a level of surrealism, combine that with the scenes depicted in WWII and they just seem other worldly.

Color really brings it back home... Interesting affect on my perspective of history.

Thank for sharing!

D_M wrote in post #12566753
The LIFE images are almost surreal as, at least for me, I'm used to seeing older era photos in B&W, that seeing these in colour makes the more real...I guess in the way that when I was a kid, when you seen old shows or movies and they were B&W, my then kid-brain thought that colour only existed in my or my parents age, haha!

lol, I used to think the same....thought back in my grandparent's time, everything was in black and white, and somehow magically went to color.

I consider myself a bit of a student of military history, a life long interest and service in the US Army cemented this thought. Even after watching hours of video, things like WW2 in HD and the documentaries on the History Channel, there's NOTHING like a still to convey the reality and give a sense of history. AWESOME link, thanks for the share!

Thanks you...

thanks for sharing, the pictures were awesome.

D_M wrote in post #12566753
The LIFE images are almost surreal as, at least for me, I'm used to seeing older era photos in B&W, that seeing these in colour makes the more real...I guess in the way that when I was a kid, when you seen old shows or movies and they were B&W, my then kid-brain thought that colour only existed in my or my parents age, haha!

PWard wrote in post #12574977
lol, I used to think the same....thought back in my grandparent's time, everything was in black and white, and somehow magically went to color.

Golly, glad to hear I'm not the only one who thought that way. I remember being genuinely amazed to learn that life has always happened in full color!