Extraordinary 19th cent. photo's of explorer's travels unearthed and he painted the colours himself

The Daily Mail ^ | 15 Sep 2009 | Daily Mail

[BGHater]

A stunning collection of photographs taken by a 19th century globetrotter has caused a stir - because he meticulously painted the colours in himself.

The amazing images shed new light on the world as it was more than 100 years ago, with vivid images of snake charmers, ships on the Suez Canal and fighting Sikhs, among others.

Henry Harrison, a Royal Navy Paymaster General, took the black and white  pictures on his voyages around the globe and, because he was a talented artist, was able to painstakingly colour them in.

Stunning imagery: One of Henry Harrison's photographs shows prisoners in China waiting to be executed. He painstakingly hand-painted the colours himself

'An English party ascends the Great pyramid, with a touch of colour

Harrison travelled the globe with his trusty camera and even recorded the grisly early stages of the Boxer Rebellion in China in the late 1890s.

Other locations depicted include the pyramids at Giza, India, Venice, Pompeii, Tonga and the West Indies.

An officer of the Khedive camel corps heads out for a tour of duty

Different way of life: This hand-painted slide shows elephants in India, saying they behaved 'like a well trained collie'

[BGHater]

Note, I edited title to fit into title header, the correct title is:

'Extraordinary 19th century photographs of explorer's travels unearthed - and he painted the colours himself'

[MrEdd]

beautiful

[Hodar]

Amazing ... thank you for posting the pictures ... I’m enthralled.

[nufsed]

thank you

[brytlea]

Wow. Except of course, we all know the world was in black and white back then.

[mmichaels1970]

Wow. Thanks for the post.

Just last weekend I removed boxes of photos dating back to when they were on old "tins" (some pre 20th cen) from a relative's house. Found a picture of a trolley during a 1912(I think) vacation in Washington DC. Nothing nearly like what we see here, of course. But the experience of going through these photos one by one to try to date and identify them certainly sparks an interest in me for stories like this.

[Salamander]

My ex actually admitted to believing that prior to his first glimpse of a color TV.

Seriesly.

[Marysecretary]

thank you for posting these. Wonderful. My first husband used to hand colour his portrait pictures. It’s quite an art form.

[Rodebrecht]

Very cool!

[Marysecretary]

I had an e-mail once about how much better the world was back before colored TV, when we had black and white sets. It was a good analysis.

[sr4402]

Harrison travelled the globe with his trusty camera and even recorded the grisly early stages of the Boxer Rebellion in China in the late 1890s.

[brytlea]

LOL I can see why she’s your EX!

[brytlea]

Would love to read it. We didnt’ have a color TV until I was in HS and I never saw one until we came back to the US from Japan when I was in 3rd grade.

[Marysecretary]

It was a long time ago and I don’t have it now. Sorry.

[brytlea]

Drat! I would think a secretary would have everything filed and be able to put hands on it in seconds!

[Jet Jaguar]

Ping.

[exit82]

May be of interest to you.

[AppyPappy]

“I had an e-mail once about how much better the world was back before colored TV, when we had black and white sets. It was a good analysis.”

Unless you were black and living in the South.

[SuziQ]

The photos are amazing, and the colors are wonderful!

[Marysecretary]

Well, that’s true, but the world was a better place overall then.