Photographer Overlays Photos, Creates a Window to the Past


Hungarian artist and photographer Kernyi Zoltn compares images from the past to the present in his series titled Ablak a Mltra, translated as Window to the Past. The photographer takes images from Fortepan, a site with an online collection of amateur photos from 1900 through the 1990's, and overlays it onto his own images at the same location.The black and white images from the past explore both the differences and similarities over time.

Zoltn's intriguing series compares architecture, fashion, and automotive technology by meticulously aligning the monochromatic image against the modern day backdrop. We're given the chance to see that the seats in today's stadiums were once occupied by past generations, newly renovated buildings used to be rundown spaces, and walkways didn't always have protective railings. Ultimately, this process reveals the progressive changes made by the past lives that have inhabited the same streets, parks, and buildings we walk across and live on today.

Top photo: 1900 meets 2012


1927 meets 2013


1937 meets 2012


1978 meets 2012


1962 meets 2012


1953 meets 2012


1954 meets 2012


1939 meets 2011


1948 meets 2013


1945 meets 2013


1963 meets 2013


1968 meets 2012

Window to the Past website
Kernyi Zoltn on Flickr
via [reddit]

Pinar

Pinar Noorata is the Managing Editor at My Modern Met. She is a writer, editor, and content creator based in Brooklyn, NY. She earned her BA in Film and Media Studies from CUNY Hunter College and is an alumni of the Center for Arts Education’s Career Development Program in NYC. She has worked at major TV, film, and publishing companies as well as other independent media businesses. When she isn’t writing, editing, or creating videos herself, Pinar enjoys watching movies, reading, crafting, drawing, and volunteering at her local animal shelter.
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