Back to the Future: Timeless Photography of Past and Present

The past sticks around in more ways than people usually think. Three amazing photographers have made the connection from past to present clear through their photography. Jason Powell, Sergey Larenkov, and Irina Werning bridge the time barrier captivatingly.

Sergey Larenkov

(Images via drug-against-war, amazingdata, exploringdystopia, boingboing, englishrussia)

Sergey Larenkov scours archived photographs and then locates the exact position they were taken from. By mixing the modern and past photographs he gives a remarkable glimpse between how similar (and different) locations and people can be.

(Images via rolleiflex, ancathach, en-derin)

Concentrating mostly on times of military struggle, like World War II, Sergey Larenkov brings wartime to the contemporary peaceful streets. Seeing tanks rolling down a highway is much more poignant with the modern connection.

Jason Powell – Looking Into the Past

(Images via camillereads, joshharris, mymodernmet, damncoolpics)

Jason Powell’s flickr pool is called “Looking Into the Past” and places old photographs in their modern locations. The changes are often drastic, but more often, surprisingly similar.

(Images via camillereads, designerscouch, fotozup, lawrenceotoole, designloops)

Everything from recent construction to changes in vehicles and fashion are revealed by these portals into the past. There’s something beautiful about viewing an old photograph exactly as the original photographer first saw it.

Irina Werning – Back to the Future

(Images via psfk, psfk, robotlibre, formfiftyfive, braish)

Irina Werning’s project entitled “Back to the Future” brings people back to childhood photographs, copying every detail. It’s fantastic to be able to see how much some people change in a lifetime, and comforting to see how much remains the same.

(Images via formfiftyfive, the-dot, devin-campbell, love4culture)

The subjects in Irina Werning’s photographs must have had a fantastic time reliving their old photographs. Any before and after shot is intriguing, but it’s especially fun to see how people age (and how locations change) in a lifetime.

(Images via vghuioew, creativefuturemag, bristowfresh, popthomology)

Irina Werning does an excellent job capturing the exact look and feel of the original photograph, including tone and lighting. It would be difficult to exactly recreate most outdated outfits, but Werning manages with an almost uncanny aplomb.