Empress Dowager Cixi, who had great power during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), sits deep in thought in this image captured five years before her death in 1908. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"Even things like the Opium Wars, which would once have been an essential part of imperial history, even if it was just learning about things from the British perspective – I've not studied that in any depth in school or university, so it would be very easy to grow up in this country with shockingly little knowledge of Chinese history.

"In terms of knowing about and understanding what's happened in the past, that's a terrible failing on our part, and, in terms of being prepared for what lies ahead in the future and China's importance in it, it's absolutely negligent, so I was keen to get in whatever Chinese history we could."

The process of colorization can be a source of controversy. Some colorizers claim they are not so much adding color, as restoring what was there when the original black and white image was taken, but Amaral is not entirely comfortable with this.