A Photographic Leap into the Past

Time is a strange and fascinating thing – perhaps it's one of the reasons I like history so much.  I remember when I was in England pondering the worn stairs in the Wells Cathedral and thinking about the many people who had traveled the steps since 1306.

Stairs in the Wells Cathedral

I was checking out the news on the BBC website the other day, when they showed a series of retrophotographs from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.  Retrophotoraphy is the art of taking a modern image at the same location as a historic photograph and displaying or blending the two together.  You can click on the link above, but I'll display a couple of the most powerful ones here also. Oh, and all the photos look better when you click on them and view them larger.

These photos reminded me of some other excellent retrophotography by Sergey Larenkov.  He has done some excellent work based on World War II photographs.  I particularly like the way Larenkov blends the images together.  I'll highlight some of my favorites on the blog today, but you'll want to check out his website for more!  It makes me want to head on down to my local historical society and find some old photos.

The amazing retrophotographs of Sergey Larenkov:

German Parade on the Champs Elysees in Paris, 1940 and 2010

Hitler at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, 1940 and 2010

D-Day on Omaha Beach, 1944 and 2010

National Hotel in Moscow, 1941 and 2010

Peterhof Grand Palace in St. Petersburg, 1941 and 2011

German Prisoners in St. Petersburg, 1944 and 2010

Tigrgarten Park in Berlin, 1945 and 2010