Criminals in a new color: photographer colorizes photos of famous villains

Matt Loughrey is a photographer and graphic artist based in Ireland who has been colourising historical photographs for many years. In this selection you will find his colour portraits of famous criminals. Among the iconic figures are Lee Harvey Oswald, the 24-year-old assassin of President John F Kennedy, gangster Al Capone, Myra Hindley, the Manchester child killer and many others.

Matt Lowry launched My Colourful Past in 2014 to colourise historical photographs. He has breathed new life into many old images, but he feels his work with criminal photographs is also important.

Lee Harvey Oswald, the 24-year-old assassin of President John F. Kennedy.

Al Capone, a Chicago gangster.

A photograph of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler rehearsing a speech. The picture was taken in 1925, shortly after his release from prison.

Notorious bank and train robber Butch Cassidy at the Wyoming Territorial Penitentiary in 1894. He was the leader of the Wild Bunch.

Myra Hindley, the Manchester child killer. She and Ian Brady killed five children aged between 10 and 17. The case became known as the Moor Murders because three of the victims were found on moorland.

The Kray twins on the day of Reggie's wedding to Frances Shea.

The Kray twins were at the centre of organised crime in London's East End in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1969, the brothers were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Charles Luciano, nicknamed Lucky, was an Italian criminal and one of the leaders of organized crime in the United States. Luciano created the modern Cosa Nostra and divided spheres of influence among several families in the United States. He created a commission consisting of five families, the Chicago Mafia, and the Buffalo crime family, which concentrated all power and influence in itself.

Wild Bill Hickok was something of a folk hero in the Wild West. He was a gunslinger and a scout and even an actor. He was killed in a saloon while playing cards in 1876. At the time, he had two eights and two aces in his hand, a combination now called the "dead man's hand" in his honor.

Albert Fish, an American serial killer, was executed by electric chair in 1936. Also known as the Moon Maniac, the Gray Ghost, the Brooklyn Vampire, the Boogeyman, the Werewolf of Wysteria. Fish wrote a letter to the mother of one of his victims in which he described how he cooked and ate ten-year-old Grace.

James "Whitey" Bulger is a notorious Irish-American gangster and the leader of the Winter Hill gang. He was arrested in 2011 and found guilty of 11 murders and other crimes. He is currently serving two life sentences in prison.

Clarence Anglin, a bank robber who was convicted and sent to Alcatraz in the 1950s. On June 11, 1962, Anglin and two other inmates staged a prison break. All three escapees were never found.

Carol Andrews was convicted of prostitution by Minneapolis police in 1967.

Laura Bullion was a member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch. Laura worked as a prostitute until she was 17, and then joined the Wild Bunch. In 1901, she was convicted of robbery and sentenced to five years in prison.

A photograph of Clyde Barrow taken in 1926 in Texas. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were robbers and murderers. Although they are now known for robbing twelve banks, Barrow preferred to rob convenience stores, barber shops, and gas stations.

Mad Hatter Boston Corbett, a US Army sergeant. He was known as the assassin of John Wilkes Booth, who killed Abraham Lincoln. Corbett was arrested but released after being hailed as a hero by the public.