The exhibition features over 50 photographs from the 19th to the 21st centuries: from the first colored portraits and stereocards to works by contemporary artists and digital reconstructions. More than fifty photographs from museum and private collections introduce the history of manual coloring. The journey begins with the first experiments of the 19th century, when daguerreotypes and calotypes amazed with their precision but disappointed with their lack of color. The solution was brushwork-portraits came to life, approaching painting. Colored stereophotographs from the back created a three-dimensional effect and added brightness to the compositions. A whole section is dedicated to the Japanese tradition. Here, European technology met Eastern miniature and lacquer painting. The mizunotype, created by Hanbei Mizuno in the late 19th century, stands out particularly. In these works, photography, decorative art, and craft techniques were combined. Even with the advent of accessible color film, manual work did not disappear. In Soviet studios of the 1950s and 1970s, portraits were touched up with watercolor or aniline paints. The end of the 20th century brought a new perspective: coloring became an artistic technique. The exhibition features works by Igor Savchenko, Sergey Sveshnikov, and Viktor Ilyin. Find other exhibitions in St. Petersburg on KUDAGO.