History

Events can feel very distant when presented as black-and-white images. In reality, though, pictures can be from just a few decades ago. Within someone's lifetime, we can glimpse what feels like another world. Seeing events in color helps them feel all the more real. Kodachrome film helped bridge the gap created by how we process images. Additionally, pictures taken with Kodachrome sported vibrant colors and sharpness that none had ever seen before. To see a Kodachrome picture means looking back at a new threshold in photography history. Society got to transcend into a whole new territory when capturing moments. What seems routine now was quite revolutionary in the early 1900s. Now, things don't look quite so foreign with all of these colors included. Witness a journey that features elements of the routine and radical all at once with these pictures. Adding color helps us see routine scenes for what they are Even today, we add a black and white filter to images to give that photo a certain quality to it. Just one choice like that makes something feel...special. It harkens back to a simpler time when the outfits looked grand, hair was meticulously styled, and the gadgets sported bigger sizes - but they lasted. RELATED: 18 Pictures of Hippies From The 60s That Prove That They Were Really Far Out In other words, black and white photos have the air of an old-time movie made to stand still. Even today, we can get a thrill out of watching them and taking in the unique atmosphere that movie sported. But, really, those scenes aren't so different from things we'd see today. The image above might look like something from the last decade but it's actually from the 1950s. Everyone was excited to immortalize a moment with a Kodachrome picture Color was pretty revolutionary with photography. Even so, not every picture got the Kodachrome treatment. Black and white images did the job just fine, but adding this new, vibrant information helped capture a moment in its entirety. For instance, only verbal recollections could tell us what these two women wore without Kodachrome. Otherwise, we would have to expertly guess, which can be effective but is ultimately just a guess. Colored pictures like that from Kodachrome preserved information in a whole new way when first introduced While black and white images help keep things less distracting, they also blur a lot of subjects together in photos. Sometimes, it's hard to tell what exactly we should focus on or what even is going on at all. Having color eases some of that burden, fortunately. Yes, it's more to keep track of, but without being able to distinguish between objects, some pictures just don't make sense. All scenes have a whole new life breathed into them One reason historical events captured in black and white photos feel so distant is because of how unreal they can feel. We associate black and white photos with times from ages and ages ago. In reality, though, these events took place within many people's lifetimes. Having color in pictures through Kodachrome film brings us back to reality. Now, far-gone eras feel much closer to home...because they are actually pretty close to home. Important milestones get the remembrance they deserve Students at Grady Memorial Hospital get to be properly remembered thanks to Kodachrome film. The young women here can celebrate a milestone they reached in Georgia in June 1957. In cases like these, it's important to remember that society was in a different place in terms of civil rights and dignities. But really, that time wasn't so long ago. Many people have parents born before or around this time. But these women represent the best kind of defiance and perseverance from just a few decades ago. And we can better appreciate just how recently their efforts took place in this Kodachrome picture. Read onto the NEXT page for more stunning photos of our history in color... Kodachrome pictures put everyone in the spotlight Some of this does depend entirely on the photographer. It takes a clever hand and sharp eye to properly capture a moment following all the rules of composition. But being able to take fully colored images does also add a whole other layer to each photo. Now, each face gets plenty of detail. We can see more about each individual in the image, which makes them all the more real. Instead of looking like distant figures from some bygone era, they're properly viewed as people who may be walking among us to this day. Kodachrome pictures also throw objects into sharper relief People aren't the only things that can be more easily seen thanks to colored film. Nor are they solely the most important. Indeed, being able to better see the objects around them provides more insight into each person's activities. By seeing this, we can better understand daily life from...really, not too long ago. And while verbal recollections provide important, personal insight, colored photos solidify that image with certainty and clarity. Has anything really changed? It's actually pretty remarkable to think how far we've come. Black and white photos offered a lot of valuable visual information, but the Kodachrome films expertly introduced color and all the new details that came with it. Every wrinkle in her skirt and each curve of the collar bone can be easily seen. It's no wonder that Kodachrome has solidified its place not just in the photography world but also in everyday society and pop culture. Buzzfeed News points out how this brand is immortalized in songs and even has a park named after it. To this day, Kodachrome pictures still hold up to the competition Remember when tools lasted forever and provided quality results? Kodachrome followed that trend too. Kodachrome slides captured high-quality images that could very well have been taken today. All the while, they offer us a time capsule to an age both beyond our reach and not so far away. In fact, some elements of these pictures might actually be better than what modern cameras would capture. In any case, the general look certainly fits the style of its age. No wonder it's called the original Instagram. Every event captured as a Kodachrome picture feels more real Observing such images can teach us very important lessons and hammer in ones we thought we learned already. We all know to be mindful of history, to learn from the past. But sometimes, looking at old black and white photos makes relatively recent events seem too far off to be a threat. In reality, though, people alive today survived some of the worst tragedies in history. They displaced remarkable acts of bravery and love to combat hatred and fear. Soldiers risked everything to fight enemies and pursue victory, to prove themselves, even. Nurses consoled the wounded with too-little to offer against the pain. The above picture takes place during World War II and feels far more recent than the typical black and white footage does. This is a good thing, an important thing, one that we have Kodachrome to thank for. RELATED: $400,000 Texas House Is A Kaleidoscope Of Textures And Colors