
Photographers of 1870s London Documented Their Disappearing City - brudgers
http://hyperallergic.com/299912/the-photographers-of-1870s-london-who-documented-their-disappearing-city/
======
ghaff
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...](http://petapixel.com/2014/04/04/pictures-ny-storefronts-document-
decade-gentrification/) but this sort of thing is uncommon.

~~~
contingencies
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...](https://www.google.com.hk/maps/@20.8611143,106.6734063,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!6m1!1s1txTK51Z_XRgly5ahp934-S1Aft4?hl=en)

~~~
aptwebapps
I don't see any images when I click the markers.

~~~
contingencies
Probably bitrot.

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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/londonrelics03-768x964.jpg)

[http://hyperallergic.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/05/londonre...](http://hyperallergic.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/05/londonrelics06-768x967.jpg)

Reminds me quite a bit of Delhi today:

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

~~~
FreeFull
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.

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rmason
There's a Detroiter who has contrasted Google and Bing street view photos
showing Detroit blocks from 2007-2016. You can't really understand the
magnitude of how the 2008 recession hurt Detroit unless you see his
photographic documentation of it.

[http://www.goobingdetroit.com/](http://www.goobingdetroit.com/)

~~~
hellofunk
Those are really sad photos.

~~~
elcapitan
Ugh, creepy. Reminds me of season 4 of "The Wire" (where people get killed by
organized crime and the bodies hidden in abandoned houses).

There was a also a recent Planet Money episode on knocking down abandoned
buildings:
[http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/08/26/491490744/episo...](http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/08/26/491490744/episode-721-unbuilding-
a-city)

~~~
hellofunk
A few years ago I watched an interesting documentary about modern Detroit
where it was pointed out that Detroit now has the world's largest urban ruins
by a wide margin, and far more than Rome.

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leonroy
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.

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

~~~
fudged71
Do you think the wide photos might have been taken using a slitscan technique?

~~~
tempodox
I couldn't tell one way or the other.

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jbuzbee
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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_George_Inn,_Southwark)

~~~
PaulRobinson
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.

~~~
jbuzbee
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!

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gilgongo
Interesting how the use of woodwork and things like shiplap was so prevalent.
Walking around these places today, you are surrounded by stone, concrete and
glass. Such an extremely different experience.

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OJFord
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'?

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

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DanBC
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,...](https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5158118,-0.1005718,3a,75y,208.79h,86.91t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sw3HeJpHoeqY0se90gqRPsg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656)

St bartholomew the Great and Clothfair:
[https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/St+Bartholomew+the+Great...](https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/St+Bartholomew+the+Great/@51.5192494,-0.099146,3a,75y,189.41h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1shgs-S9gg6iUee5GKDkVLtA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dhgs-S9gg6iUee5GKDkVLtA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D185.88704%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x48761b54138c68f3:0xe00d32efbfad91b6!8m2!3d51.518932!4d-0.099542)

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,...](https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5139372,-0.0756649,3a,75y,76.34h,94.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1suUWJ_fVrb-
KzYah8sDGeWA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656)

[http://pubshistory.com/LondonPubs/Aldgate/TurksHead.shtml](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...](https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/The+Old+Kings+Head/@51.5041787,-0.0887202,3a,60y,15.02h,68.57t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ss_jXbOdaVAE6R5HR5a5V4g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x48760357613a676b:0xddb0aec0d2100860!8m2!3d51.504659!4d-0.08929)

St Mary's Axe:
[https://www.google.co.uk/maps/search/golden+axe+st+mary's+ax...](https://www.google.co.uk/maps/search/golden+axe+st+mary's+axe/@51.5147848,-0.0806138,3a,75y,270.7h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-NsjOJB-4SYU%2FVwqy36LtS_I%2FAAAAAAAAFfU%2FZxkpZdw3kco3GsQseelFwc3qs0kIkP3BACLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-NsjOJB-4SYU%2FVwqy36LtS_I%2FAAAAAAAAFfU%2FZxkpZdw3kco3GsQseelFwc3qs0kIkP3BACLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-
pi-2.0428514-ya112.99787-ro-13.276394-fo100%2F!7i5376!8i2688)

Temple Bar:
[https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Temple+Bar/@51.5140487,-...](https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Temple+Bar/@51.5140487,-0.0993776,3a,75y,356.38h,100.74t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-_ukWes-
IS20%2FV_a5-IOS1aI%2FAAAAAAAAcpI%2FNbNh6jrvt4suZ8NAfvYSJoqpFsWp5cl6ACLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2F-_ukWes-
IS20%2FV_a5-IOS1aI%2FAAAAAAAAcpI%2FNbNh6jrvt4suZ8NAfvYSJoqpFsWp5cl6ACLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-
pi-0-ya99.99793-ro0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352!4m5!3m4!1s0x487604ab59e42833:0x5367feada3d7478d!8m2!3d51.5142797!4d-0.0995076)

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

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gumby
I am struck by how many of these pictures included broken windows. A nice
signal of the degree to which the Industrial Revolution really was a
revolution in pricing

