I Combine Old Images With Rephotographed Ones To Create A Mix Of Both, Showing How Much Things Have Changed

 

I’ve been taking pictures all my life. My parents bought me my first camera – a Kodak Instamatic – when I was 10 years old. I took pictures of everything: people, places, animals, nature, and inanimate objects. It didn’t matter what, I just loved taking pictures. One of the most exciting things about photography back then was taking rolls of undeveloped film cartridges to the local drugstore and waiting days to see the prints once they were ready. They’d come back freshly delivered in yellow Kodak envelopes with center dividers separating the prints from the negatives. I still have hundreds of them.

It was also a time when I developed a lifelong interest in history. Growing up in Boston, my parents would take me to all the historic Revolutionary War-era sites, where, naturally, I’d take lots of pictures. I was 16 when we moved to Northern Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington DC., and I spent the entire first summer there exploring our nation’s capital. Later, during my college years at Virginia Tech, I visited many of the Civil War-era battlefields, such as Gettysburg, Manassas, and Antietam. These places left an indelible mark on me.

 by Mark Hersch

George Washington's Tomb At Mount Vernon 1878 / 2018

 

Chicago, Randolph Street East From Dearborn 1914 / 2022

 

Chicago, State Street And Marshall Field's 1915 / 2018

 

Chicago, The Dream City 1893 / 2018

 

George Washington's Mount Vernon 1858 / 2021

 

New York, Times Square 1905 / 2018

 

Boston, Copley Square 1900 / 2018

 

Boston, Subway Entrance At Boston Common 1900 / 2018

 

London, Tower Of London 1890 / 2022

 

Boston, Tremont Street 1899 / 2018

 

Chicago, Experimental Streetcar On State Street 1933 / 2019

 

New York, Flatiron Building 1904 / 2018

 

Day To Night: Los Angeles, Broadway Building Hollywood 1947 / 2021

 

San Francisco, Phelan Building 1906 / 2018

 

Chicago, Wabash Avenue North From Adams 1900 / 2017

 

Los Angeles, Hollywood Boulevard West From Vine Street 1937 / 2022

 

New Orleans, French Market 1910 / 2018

 

San Francisco, Ferry Building 1906 / 2018

 

Day To Night: Chicago, State And Randolph 1933 / 2022

 

Boston, Tremont Street 1899 / 2018

 

Washington Dc, East Capitol Street 1900 / 2018

 

Chicago, Goodrich Docks 1905 / 2019

 

Chicago, State Street South Of Lake Street 1900 / 2017

 

Chicago, Lasalle And Madison Streets 1905 / 2019

 

Day To Night: Chicago, Tunnel Entrance Lasalle & Randolph 1905 / 2022