in Urban Exploration |

Rephotography: Then and Now Photography

rephotographyWould you like to stand in one place and see how it looked 100 years ago? Rephotography is about using old photographs (postcards or paintings) to fill in the details, comparing how a place (city street, rural landscape, etc.) used to look compared to the modern/ current look.

You don’t have to use a vintage photograph. Pick out something from your own family photographs. If you don’t live in the same house look for a photograph taken in a public access place like a park, a library, a school. Bring your camera and a tripod would be a good idea so you can be a bit less hands on (you are limited to just two hands after all).

Set your camera up on the tripod. Now use your original photograph and connect it to the existing, modern background at the location. Try stepping backwards and forwards and moving the camera higher or lower with the tripod. It will take some time to match up the old photograph with the current scene.

You may bring along a friend to hold the photograph in place for you. Or, you might do it yourself – this is when having the tripod will make things much easier. If you can use something there already like pinning the photo to a tree, a clothesline, be creative. Most likely someone will need to hold the photo.

Give yourself space around the edges of your original photo so you can clearly see the modern background behind your photograph. Show it off. It doesn’t have to be posed dead centre. If you aren’t holding the photo yourself you can carefully position the camera to catch something new to the side of your original photo.

Some then and now photography isn’t done using an original photo inside a new photo. This is the one which I like best, it’s the most dramatic and gives great perspective. But, some will merge the old photo by blurring the lines between old and new so that the only difference is colour versus black and white. In the case of the rephotography image I created for this post, I created a new image by putting two photographs side by side.

Have a look at several styles and photographs from the links below and decide which style you like best.

Rephotography Resources for Then and Now Photographers

Locations Photographed Then and Now