This photograph from June 1902 has become a personal obsession of mine over the past few years.

It has been my primary source for learning how to colourise, paint digitally, and build virtual 3D scenes.

Who were these individuals? What did they see in full color? What did the world sound like to them? And what did their own voices sound like?

I digitally reconstructed a historical scene by combining two archival images from a century ago using modern 3D rendering technology. By leveraging contemporary game engine capabilities, I created a compelling video visualization for YouTube. My goal is to further develop this experimental approach, progressively enhancing the visual complexity and historical authenticity of the reconstruction.

I recently had the opportunity to experiment with AI on this original image of Hill Street from 1902.
I created two videos: the first imagines what might have happened just before the photo was taken, while the second explores moments after, incorporating a few creative changes.
I know it might be a bit wonky in some places, but I find it truly fascinating to use AI to bring our past to life.
This approach is much less cumbersome/expensive than traditional methods and often yields better results.

Experience the vibrant scene in our immersive 360-degree video, where you can click, hold, and drag to explore every angle of the panoramic view. Pause the video at any moment to examine the static scene from multiple perspectives. Navigate seamlessly across the entire 360-degree landscape using your mouse or touchscreen. Compatible with 3D headsets for an even more engaging visual experience.

The same Colourised scene presented in 360 image. Be sure to click, hold & drag to examine in full 360.

(Best Viewed on large screen at highest settings.)

The same Colourised scene presented in 3D image. Hover cursor over image for full effect.