Billy the Kid has been photographed exactly once. One solitary tintype from the early 1880s is the only image historians agree is truly him. For more than a century, that tiny metal portrait has existed as a grainy, ghostly reminder of the Wild West.
Now a modern photo restorer has brought the outlaw back into focus, revealing details long lost to time. Using tools like Photoshop, and an AI upscaler tool called Magnific, we see the photo for the first time in high resolution.
The cleaned and carefully revived image sharpens the Kid’s features, brightens his expression, and gives us a version of him that feels startlingly present.
It is still very much an old photograph, but with a clarity that makes you pause.
It is always a little surreal when history suddenly looks back at you.
See more on Petapixel. Photo restoring by Nick Harris.
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3 Comments
It is a great factual reproduction of the original picture, great clarity.
Agreed, that’d be fun to see.
Wouldn’t it be nice to see the full length photo as well. Lots of us would enjoy seeing his Colt Lightning and Winchester. L.S.