New + old photos mashup

November 23, 2010 11:14 PM

Is there a name for this photography technique/style? I'm trying to find more photos like that.

Searching on flickr using keywords like: overlay, old, modern, etc., I've found a few like that, but most other ones are either new+old pics placed side by side or somebody holding an old photograph in the shot to match the modern scene.

Does anybody know of other photographers who have done this style where the old photo is actually merged/blended/ghosted into the modern scene seamlessly?
 

posted by querty to media & arts (10 answers total)

Can't remember exact photographers (others will I'm sure) but try googling 'double exposure' - it's a long-standing effect that can be achieved in-camera, in the darkroom or on a computer. I once used it in my photography a-level to show faces covered by hands, lots of fun!
posted by dumdidumdum at 12:18 AM on November 24, 2010

If I were to wager a guess, this isn't so much of a photography style as it is a Photoshop situation. The creator of each match up appears to have taken great care to take modern photos of specific locales and then overlays the original antique image over the new with Photoshop. By erasing parts of the old image you end up with an excellent double-exposure style setup that really looks amazing.

The artist himself admits to this here:

“Years ago I found some negatives in a fleamarket. I scanned them and put them online. I then found some of the spots in the photos and took pictures there."
posted by patronuscharms at 12:31 AM on November 24, 2010

Sergey Larenkov is quite famous for doing this. I'm fairly sure I first read about his work on the blue, but I'm failing to find it.

Here we go.
posted by Ahab at 12:39 AM on November 24, 2010 [2 favorites]

Rephotography is the term for "going to the location of an old photo, taking a new one, and putting them side by side." I suppose this is a variation on the practice. Searching on "rephotography" should move you in the right direction.
posted by zachlipton at 1:33 AM on November 24, 2010

Here's a few flickr groups where you might find more of what interests you...


http://www.flickr.com/groups/lookingintothepast/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcturnbacktime/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/thenandnow/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/1121210@N24/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/pastandpresent/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/then_and_now/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/avantapresthennow/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/then-now/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ieri-oggi_yesterday-today/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/1123961@N20/
posted by blaneyphoto at 4:50 AM on November 24, 2010 [2 favorites]

Check out historypin.com, a service that can automate this kind of photograph
posted by fake at 6:18 AM on November 24, 2010

Yeah, I was going to say Photoshop. Not in a bad way, but that the effect shown isn't a photographic effect, but just a graphic one.

(On the other hand, you could argue that it is just a double exposure with a really long time difference. The other side of the argument is that to be a double exposure, the same film frame must be exposed twice.)
posted by gjc at 7:23 AM on November 24, 2010

In pre-computer photography, this sort of photograph was called either a composite photograph, when two or more negatives were printed together, or a photo-montage, when two or more prints (or other types of images) were physically combined into one image.
posted by gyusan at 7:36 AM on November 24, 2010

Second the photo montage. Check out Scott Mutter's work.
posted by showmetheway at 8:10 AM on November 24, 2010

Seconding Sergey Larenkov, the link Ahab posted. Love his work- really quite moving.
posted by aabbbiee at 8:40 AM on November 24, 2010