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I think the longest I’ve spent on an image is nearly a month.
一张照片我最久用了一个月。
What comes next is pretty interesting,
接下来的环节就比较有趣了，
because even after meticulous research, restoration, and blending of colors,
因为即便是做了细致的研究，进行了修复，也调和了各种色彩，
there’s something that every good colorization artist needs to have: an intuitive understanding of how light works in the atmosphere.
任何一位优秀的着色画家都还需要具备一种能力：那就是对光在大气中的传播有直观的理解。
Light affects our perception of color,
光线会影响我们对颜色的感知，
so even though research can give you the color information,
所以即便研究能为你提供颜色方面的信息，
you’ll need to take into account how those colors looked under a specific lighting condition.
你也还是需要考虑在特定光照条件下这些颜色会如何呈现。
But how can you tell?
问题是你怎么来判断光照条件呢？
You can usually tell what the atmospheric conditions were based on things like shadows, and triangulation of light location, things like that.
通常，我们可以通过影子，对光位置的三角测量等因素来判断环境条件。
For example, this photo was taken in the late afternoon.
比如，这张照片是傍晚时分拍摄的。
Look at the long shadows the people are casting on the sidewalk.
看看人们在人行道上投下的长长的影子就知道了。
The sun is low, and at this time of day, often referred to as "the golden hour," everything is cast in a sort of orange glow,
太阳已经快要落山了，在一天的这个时候，通常被称为“黄金时刻”，一切都会散发出橘色的光芒，
which you can see in the reflections of this car.
从这辆车反射的光线上就能看出。
Or take a look at this photo of Harry Houdini from 1912.
再来看1912年哈里·霍迪尼的这张照片。
The cloudy and hazy sky, the soft, almost invisible shadows, and Houdini’s windswept hair are all strong indicators that this was a dreary day at the New York docks,
阴沉而朦胧的天空，若有若无的阴影，还有霍迪尼被风吹起的头发都强烈暗示着这是纽约码头沉闷的一天，
which calls for muted colors and a greenish tint.
上色时就要选择柔和的色彩和绿色调。
But weather conditions aren’t the only thing to consider.
然而，天气并非唯一需要考虑的因素。
Reflected light off of certain materials influences color too.
某些材料反射的光线也会影响颜色。
Like the orange glow of molten steel, or light bouncing up from a blue carpet, for example.
比如钢水发出的橙色光芒，又比如蓝色地毯反射的光线。
These kinds of details are critical to simulating an environment and achieving true photorealism.
这些细节对于模拟环境，还原照片真实的颜色至关重要。
I should take a second here to mention that not everyone is into the work colorization artists are doing.
说到这里，我应该插一句，并非所有人都认可艺术家所做的着色工作。
There’s been some pushback, with critics arguing that these photos should be left untouched.
他们的工作也受到阻碍，批评者认为那些照片应保持不变。
There’s a lot of accusations, not just to me but to pretty much anyone who does it, which is that, you know, we’re vandalizing art or fucking up history.
他们承受了很多指责，不仅仅我受到过指责，基本上做这份工作的每个人都被指责过，你知道嘛，说我们是在破坏艺术，破坏历史。
And the thing about that is that these things are not supposed to be substitutes for original documents.
问题是，我们并没有想用上色之后的作品取代原始作品。
It sits alongside the original.
我们的作品和原始作品是平起平坐的。
But it’s not a substitute; it’s a supplement.
它不是替代，而是一个补充。
Colorization artists are able to create such high-quality versions of old images
上色的画家们之所以能够如此高保真地还原旧照片的色彩
because institutions like the Library of Congress and the US National Archive
是因为在过去的150多年的摄影历史上，
have carefully digitized and cataloged thousands of original documents from over a century and a half of photographic history.
国会图书馆和美国国家档案馆这样的机构仔细将成千上万的原始资料数字化，并逐一编录。
And since these photos are in the public domain, they can be altered in any way.
因为这些照片已经进入公共版权领域，所以我们是可以对它们做任意修改的。
Which means that we get to see a color photo of Abraham Lincoln, blue eyes and all.
这也就意味着我们是可以看到蓝眼睛等等细节的亚伯拉罕林肯的。
Beyond the fact that these are really fun to look at, colorization presents a new perspective on history.
除了这样处理之后很多照片都变得有趣起来这一事实之外，着色还为历史提供了新的观察视角。
It offers a more relatable look at huge moments, like the construction of the Hoover Dam.
它拉近了我们与历史上的伟大时刻之间的距离，如胡佛大坝的建设。
And small ones too.
也拉近了我们与微小时刻之间的距离。
You find out all these amazing stories. When you start looking at all the individual things.
当你开始深入个别细节的时候，你就会发现很多了不起的故事。
What happened to all these companies? What happened to this person, what happened here?
这些公司怎么了？这个人怎么了，这里又发生了什么？
And all of a sudden, you no longer see history as a linear timeline, but rather it’s a tapestry of all these extremely rich moments.
突然之间，历史就不再只是一个线性的时间轴，而成了镶嵌着无数时间带的一块挂毯。
It’s really mind-blowing, actually.
那是一种会让人大呼过瘾的感觉。
