A few years ago I picked up a book that shows photos from 100 years ago in contrast to photos from the same vantage point today.
I thought it was really cool. At first, mostly because the guys that took the original photos were lugging a huge camera with glass slides that were about 12 or 14 inches square to where ever they were shooting. Later, I was kind of enamored with "things" that stood the test of time. After visiting Paris a couple years ago I was blown away with cultures that have such a rich history. Walking out of the Catacombs, I was awestruck with the magnitude of what transpired there. If you have never visited the Paris Catacombs, you simply must. The Art, Food, and Culture of Paris are amazing, but to really feel Paris you have to take this tour. But I digress.
Today I jumped in the Cayman (can't go to the track, tires cooked), packed the Canon 20D and took a nice drive up to Blackhawk. This is a favorite spot of mine because it was photographed a lot during the turn of the century as the Colorado Central Railroad made its way into town.
The Colorado Central Railroad in the 1872 was kind of like the Internet in 1995. It was a big deal to "get connected". As a result there were a lot of photographs taken of Blackhawk/Central City during that time. I hiked around as I always do taking interesting photos of the area. It's getting much harder to find good photos, as Blackhawk has been virtually destroyed by gambling money. Central City, where these photos come from, has shown more restraint.
When I got home I compared a few of my photos with some from the internet archive that surrounds us all and I found one that was a pretty good match.
Interesting, my photo was a little to the left and just a bit too low (probably a 100 feet, maybe a little more).
I have been doing this for a while, and the interesting thing I always notice in the older photos is the lack of trees. I was told once that this is because they burned them all for fuel. Wow, we look at natural resources today vs 100 years ago in a different way. Are we more enlightened today, or just more paranoid?
Anyway, thought I would share some of my 100 year hobby.
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