Crooks in colour: Fascinating photographs of history's most notorious criminals show the likes of Butch Cassidy and James 'Whitey' Bulger in a fresh light (15 Pics)

The images were colourised by Matt Loughrey, 39, from Westport in Ireland.

He explained: 'These are people that mystify the vast majority of us, that are lambasted and reviled, for doing things that are beyond our comprehension.

'I think that criminal history is fascinating and the response to date supports that, the subjects are self-reflective, storyful and although at times repulsive and anger inducing, are parts of our society we can't ignore in order to develop and protect our communities better.' 


James 'Whitey' Bulger  is pictured at Alcatraz prison in 1959. Bulger was a notorious Irish-American mobster in charge of the Winter Hill Gang in Boston. He went into hiding in 1994 before being caught and sentenced in 2011. He was charged with 19 counts of murder.


Clarence Anglin (in 1958), a bank robber who was jailed in the 1950s and sent to Alcatraz prison. In June 1962, he and two other men - including his brother - escaped from the island jail and were never heard from again. Colouriser Matt Loughfrey explained: 'I initially got the idea for this project after working with Kenneth Widner, the nephew of Clarence and John Anglin who both famously escaped from Alcatraz. I think where modern day criminality is concerned, it's Clarence Anglin's portrait mugshot that is the most storyful'


Notorious train and bank robber Butch Cassidy is pictured at the Wyoming Territorial Prison in 1894. He was the leader of a gang of criminals known as the 'Wild Bunch' in the American West, one of whose members was the infamous 'Sundance Kid'.

Myra Hindley, a child murderer from Manchester. Colouriser Matt Loughrey explains his reasoning for adding colour to the faces of repugnant figures: 'I think that criminal history is fascinating and the response to date supports that, the subjects are self-reflective, storyful and although at times repulsive and anger inducing, are parts of our society we can't ignore in order to develop and protect our communities better'. But he added: 'It was mentally difficult to work in such detail on the face of Myra Hindley knowing what she did to youngsters and their families'

There is also a photograph of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler as he practises a speech in a darkened room. The picture was taken in 1925, a year after the Austrian anti-Semite was released from prison for trying to overthrow the Weimar government. He built his reputation among nationalists in Germany partly by giving dramatic speeches in which he attacked Jews and Communists

Clyde Barrow, photographed in Dallas, Texas in 1926. Barrow was part of the notorious Barrow Gang, which committed robberies and murders during the Great Depression. He was also one part of the crime couple known as 'Bonnie and Clyde', the other being Bonnie Elizabeth Parker. Their outlaw life was made into a film in 1967, directed by Arthur Penn and Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. 

Union soldier Boston Corbett, who shot and killed Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. He was arrested but released after being considered a hero by the public


Among the evil figures are Lee Harvey Oswald , the 24-year-old assassin of President John F Kennedy

Al Capone, a Chicago-based gangster who prospered during the Prohibition Era. The images were colourised by Matt Loughrey, 39, from Westport in Ireland. He explained: 'These are people that mystify the vast majority of us, that are lambasted and reviled, for doing things that are beyond our comprehension. I think that criminal history is fascinating and the response to date supports that, the subjects are self-reflective, storyful and although at times repulsive and anger inducing, are parts of our society we can't ignore in order to develop and protect our communities better.'

Pictured: The Kray twins on the day of Reggie's marriage to Francis Shae in 1965. The gangsters were at the centre of organised crime in the East End of London during the 1950s and '60s. They were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1969. Colouriser Matt Loughfrey explained how he goes about restoring the photos. 'I use what is essentially a digital pen and paper in the form of a dedicated tablet and stylus and employ a completely new process named SMTM for creating color textures,' he said.

Charles 'Lucky' Luciano (1931) is considered the creator of modern organised crime in the USA. He was behind the first Commission in the country, which governed the American Mafia. His outfit, the Genovese Crime Family, were responsible for murder, racketeering, extortion, people trafficking, robbery and much more. 

Wild Bill Hickok, who was something of a folk hero in the American Wild West. He was a soldier, spy and gunfighter who earned an unusual amount of notoriety as a vigilante, scout and even actor before he was murdered in 1876

Serial child murderer, rapist and cannibal Albert Fish (pictured in 1934) was killed on the electric chair in 1936 after being convicted of kidnapping and murder. Also known as The Gray Man, Werewolf of Wysteria and Brooklyn Vampire, Fish claimed to have 'had' over 100 children in his lifetime. In the same year this photograph was taken, Fish wrote a letter to the parents of Grace Budd, a 10-year-old girl he murdered in 1928, explaining that he had cooked and eaten her

Carol Andrews was investigated for prostitution by Minneapolis police in 1967. 

 Laura Bullion in 1893. She was an infamous female outlaw and member of Butch Cassidy's 'Wild Bunch' gang. She was convicted in 1901 of robbery and sentenced to five years in jail for her role in the Great Northern train robbery. She was released in 1905. Loughfrey adds: 'I quickly realised how people engaged with historical figures of crime and mystery, the response I had was so good that I looked further into the subject and gradually built a library of these famous faces reimagined'
Crooks in colour: Fascinating photographs of history's most notorious criminals show the likes of Butch Cassidy and James 'Whitey' Bulger in a fresh light (15 Pics) Crooks in colour: Fascinating photographs of history's most notorious criminals show the likes of Butch Cassidy and James 'Whitey' Bulger in a fresh light (15 Pics) Reviewed by Your Destination on November 13, 2017 Rating: 5

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