When I look at black and white photos it seems to me that people and events on it were long-long ago, maybe even not in our history or not in our world. These photos are more like paintings or sketches that allows the brain to decrease their realism (for me). Recently I came across an interesting work of Marina Amaral. She restore and put color into historical shots, after that they are transformed. You start to realize the event on these photos deeper , knowing that it was in our history, and not so long ago.
Buddhist monk self-immolation. June 11, 1963
Buddhist monk in southern Vietnam, committed self-immolation in protest against the Catholic government, which has become significantly infringe on the rights of Buddhists. Thich Quang Duc didn't make a sound and didn't move when he was burning.
Despite the cremation, the Duc's heart was not consumed by fire and remained intact. The monks recognized that the Duc's heart is relic, and put it in a glass bowl, which was exhibited at the Smiling Loy. Pristine flame heart (sarira) is a symbol of compassion in Buddhist culture.
Prisoners in concentration camp Wöbbelin. 1945
Concentration camp Wöbbelin was built to provide housing prisoners whom the SS had evacuated from other camps to prevent their release by the Allies. It was built by the American military prisoners from camp Reiherhorst. The camp contained nearly 5,000 inhabitants, most of whom were suffering from starvation and diseases, flourished cannibalism. They were released in 2 may 1945 .
Hiroshima after the nuclear attack. 6 August 1945
The first city in the world that was subjected to nuclear bombardment.
According to approximate estimates of specialists the total number of dead in Hiroshima (140-200 thousand) approximately 70 to 80 thousand people were killed in first few seconds. Tens of thousands just disappeared in a split second, they disintegrated into molecules in hot air temperature under the plasma ball reached 4000 degrees.
6 June 1944 (termed D-Day) New-York.
The day of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. The largest seaborne invasion in history, the operation began the liberation of German-occupied northwestern Europe from Nazi control, and contributed to the Allied victory on the Western Front.
I think Marina Amaral makes a great and important deal. In her blog you can find more photos with detailed description. You will not disappointed. Here some of her other works:
Image Source: Marina Amaral's Blog
Text- @rusteller