In pictures: London now and then
- Published
The Museum of London has released some new hybrid images of street scenes from around the capital. This composite shows the front of Gloucester Road underground station pictured in 1868 and in 2014.
The old photographs used in the updates were taken by renowned late 19th and 20th Century photographers, including Henry Grant, Wolfgang Suschitsky, Roger Mayne and George Davison Reid, who made the image on the right at the corner of Long Acre and James Street, Covent Garden, in 1930.
Some locations have changed dramatically in the intervening years. London Bridge Station, the capital's oldest, which opened in 1836 and is used by 55 million people, is undergoing a £6bn redevelopment.
The Museum of London’s app, Streetmuseum, allows users to make their own hybrids and juxtapose historic views with their present-day locations. This image was made from photos taken at Bow Lane in 1930 and 2014.
Users can select a destination from a London map and then a historical image of their location appears onscreen, which can be expanded and explored in detail, along with background information.
Anna Sparham, curator of photographs at the Museum of London, said: “Our collection provides a fabulous visual history of London, across all aspects of London life. Streetmuseum allows these photographs to be seen by a new audience, and in a thrilling context.” Here Victoria Station is pictured in 1950 and 2014.
This hybrid was made from photos taken at Duncannon Street. To the right is St Martin-in-the-Fields, a landmark church in the heart of London, with the National Gallery pictured in the distance.
Tower Bridge with a view of the Thames is pictured in about 1920 and in 2014.
An old double-decker bus travels around Piccadilly Circus in 1953 followed by its 2014 incarnation.
The Museum of London tells the changing story of the city and the people who live here, from 450,000BC to the present day, through galleries, exhibitions, displays and activities. (Brick Lane, east London 1957 and 2014)