Live data from Hacker News

Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

hyperallergic.com

1–10 of 35 posts

Re: Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

#2
I'm not good with Google Maps, and I don't know London that well, but I think these are the locations of some of the images.

Warwick Lane, London: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5158118,-0.1005718,3a,75y,...

St bartholomew the Great and Clothfair: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/St+Bartholomew+the+Great...

This is Aldgate High Street, which is I think where the "Old Houses Aldgate" is taken: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5139372,-0.0756649,3a,75y,...

http://pubshistory.com/LondonPubs/Aldgate/TurksHead.shtml

I think this is the closest street view can get to The King's Head yard, Southwark: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/The+Old+Kings+Head/@51.5...

St Mary's Axe: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/search/golden+axe+st+mary's+ax...

Temple Bar: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Temple+Bar/@51.5140487,-...

Re: Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

#3
These photographs appear in an outstanding book 'Lost London, 1870-1945' by Philip Davies.

I bought a copy the week it came out at RRP of $50 odd. It's since dropped to less than $20 on Amazon US and UK. Well worth it up if you're a fan of this wonderful, old city.

Re: Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

#4
I often wish I could see a "Streetview" from 10, 20, 30, 40, etc. years ago. It would be interesting not only in cities, but even to see how areas outside of cities morphed over time. Of course there are examples but, especially when taking a photo cost real money, there wasn't a lot of systematic documentation of mundane street scenes.

There are some examples here from NYC http://petapixel.com/2014/04/04/pictures-ny-storefronts-docu... but this sort of thing is uncommon.

Re: Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

#5
post #4

I often wish I could see a "Streetview" from 10, 20, 30, 40, etc. years ago. It would be interesting not only in cities, but even to see how areas outside of cities morphed over time. Of course there are examples but, especially when taking a photo cost real money, there wasn't a lot of systematic documentation of mundane street scenes. There are some examples here from NYC http://petapixel.com/2014/04/04/pictures-ny…

Same here. The Norwegian site Finn.no has the closest thing I've found, adding released public aerial photos to their map service every now and then. For an example, go to http://kart.finn.no/, find a city and look at the menu node called "Historiske".

Re: Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

#6
post #3

These photographs appear in an outstanding book 'Lost London, 1870-1945' by Philip Davies. I bought a copy the week it came out at RRP of $50 odd. It's since dropped to less than $20 on Amazon US and UK. Well worth it up if you're a fan of this wonderful, old city.

There are even what I would call wide angle shots among them. I find that quite impressive considering medium & technology were relatively new.

Re: Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

#7
post #4

I often wish I could see a "Streetview" from 10, 20, 30, 40, etc. years ago. It would be interesting not only in cities, but even to see how areas outside of cities morphed over time. Of course there are examples but, especially when taking a photo cost real money, there wasn't a lot of systematic documentation of mundane street scenes. There are some examples here from NYC http://petapixel.com/2014/04/04/pictures-ny…

I managed to construct something similar as a Google Map of Haiphong, Vietnam, a few years ago, based on images collected from scanned postcards of the French colonial era. https://www.google.com.hk/maps/@20.8611143,106.6734063,15z/d...

Re: Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

#8
post #2

I'm not good with Google Maps, and I don't know London that well, but I think these are the locations of some of the images. Warwick Lane, London: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5158118,-0.1005718,3a,75y,... St bartholomew the Great and Clothfair: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/St+Bartholomew+the+Great... This is Aldgate High Street, which is I think where the "Old Houses Aldgate" is taken: https://www.google…

Thank you! Just to note Temple Bar was moved from its original position: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Bar,_London

Re: Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

#10
post #4

I often wish I could see a "Streetview" from 10, 20, 30, 40, etc. years ago. It would be interesting not only in cities, but even to see how areas outside of cities morphed over time. Of course there are examples but, especially when taking a photo cost real money, there wasn't a lot of systematic documentation of mundane street scenes. There are some examples here from NYC http://petapixel.com/2014/04/04/pictures-ny…

Not quite the same detail but with Google Earth you can review historical maps of many cities. In the View menu > Historical Imagery. You can see back to 1943 around Europe - Rome, Naples and Bologna in Italy, Lyon, Bordeaux and Paris in France as well as most major German cities. In the US it's a mixed bag but often until the 50s/70s.
Post reply on HN