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Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

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Re: Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

#11

Post by glenneroo »

DanBC wrote: 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…

Not nearly the same level of detail but Google Earth has satellite maps of London going back to 1945. In the View menu select Historical Imagery.

Re: Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

#13

Post by PaulRobinson »

jbuzbee wrote: post #9

The view of King’s Head Inn, reminded me of "The George" which against all odds, is still up and running since at least the 1500's: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_George_Inn,_Southwark

I thought the same.

The Geroge makes me laugh: if Hemingway drank in every London pub that claims him as a one-time custodian, he'd never have got a day's work done in his life. Same with Dickens. I live up in West London where one pub nearby (The Dove) claims to be the place where "Rule Britannia!" was written (no, it wasn't), and the whole city is full of this jovial nonsense that tourists love.

The George that takes it to a new level by optimistically suggesting Shakespeare would have been a customer.

Cracks me up every time I'm there.

The only one that comes close to it is the Still & Star in "Blood Alley". Threatened with closure the landlord was on BBC London a few months back and he suggested that because it was in the old butchery quarter (it sits on the corner of a street nicknamed "Bloody Alley"), and it was _obvious_ that Jack the Ripper was a butcher, then clearly his pub was Old Jack's regular local.

Re: Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

#14

Post by jbuzbee »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #13
jbuzbee wrote: post #9

The view of King’s Head Inn, reminded me of "The George" which against all odds, is still up and running since at least the 1500's: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_George_Inn,_Southwark

I thought the same. The Geroge makes me laugh: if Hemingway drank in every London pub that claims him as a one-time custodian, he'd never have got a day's work done in his life. Same with Dickens. I live up in West London where one pub nearby (The Dove) claims to be the place where "Rule Britannia!" was written (no, it wasn't), and the whole city is full of this jovial nonsense that tourists love. The George that tak…

Yeah, there's no way to prove these claims. But since The George is near the Globe and was active in Shakespeare's day, it's fun to think he might have had a pint or two right where you're sitting!

Re: Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

#15

Post by honkhonkpants »

OJFord wrote: post #12

These ~145yo photographs are incredible. Is it 'just' the carbon printing? I'm surprised at the resolution (not to mention preservation) - what is it that makes them so.. 'good'?

Old photos are usually metal-on-glass plates, and the plates are usually enormous. They compare very, very favorably with teensy little 35mm films.

Re: Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

#16

Post by WildUtah »

ghaff wrote: 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…

There's a book of John Wesley Powell expedition photos down the Colorado River in 1869, the first time it had been explored through Cataract, Glen, and Grand Canyons. The authors returned a century later to retake the same photos from the exact same vantage points. It appears there are quite a few then and now books available for various other interesting places in the world.

But yes, Street View for the past would be amazing. Maybe a few photogenic cities like London or Paris could organize enough period photos to build a pretty good approximation. Would make a nice History thesis project to organize all the available findable photos for a neighborhood at a particular time.

The book is called _In_The_Footsteps_Of_John_Wesley_Powell_ by Stephens, Shoemaker, and Powell. It appears to be out of print but good libraries should have it and there are used copies online. [0]

[0] http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?isbn=&an=steph...

Re: Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

#17

Post by jpatokal »

Bit of an aside, but it's striking how thick the smog is in all these pictures, you can see how everything fades off within meters:

http://hyperallergic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/londonre...

http://hyperallergic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/londonre...

Reminds me quite a bit of Delhi today:

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=delhi+smog&tbm=isch

Re: Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

#18

Post by fudged71 »

tempodox wrote: post #6
leonroy wrote: 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.

Do you think the wide photos might have been taken using a slitscan technique?

Re: Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

#19

Post by FreeFull »

jpatokal wrote: post #17

Bit of an aside, but it's striking how thick the smog is in all these pictures, you can see how everything fades off within meters: http://hyperallergic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/londonre... http://hyperallergic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/londonre... Reminds me quite a bit of Delhi today: https://www.google.com.au/search?q=delhi+smog&tbm=isch

This is the unfortunate effect of burning tons of coal every day. The industrial revolution had quite a toll, although we wouldn't be where we are today otherwise.

Re: Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City

#20

Post by robertnealan »

ghaff wrote: 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…

http://www.oldsf.org/ is the closest thing I've seen — designer and developer mapped photos to their relatively accurate location, filterable by year. I've actually been able to find photos of two of the houses/blocks where I've lived (Mission and Lower Haight neighborhoods) dating back 50-100 years.

The optimist in me hopes that Google (or other companies) will archive old streetview data and make it available as a true visual timeline over the next few decades.

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