A few months ago I published an item featuring photographs of old postcards manually overlaid on the same environments today. I had a lot of fun producing those shots, and one of the pictures even came top in a competition to celebrate the Jetée Thiers pier in Arcachon.
After picking up another batch of postcards at a collectors' fair, I headed out once again with my camera in one hand and a new set of old pictures in the other. Here are the end-products!
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| Here we are in the Jardins de l'Hôtel de Ville in central Bordeaux, and the 1905 postcard shows a number of smart, well-dressed grown-ups and children congregated around the circular pond, which is still very much in position! |
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| On Rue Sainte-Catherine holding a postcard that harks back to the days when the building on the right was a Nouvelles-Galéries department store. The street was possibly freshly pedestrianised as cars were first banished in 1976 and the picture dates from the late 1970s, or possibly the early 1980s. Whatever happened to the two long-haired guys with their acoustic guitar? |
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| Still on Rue Saint-Catherine holding a picture from that same late 1970s-early 1980s period, at the point where the pedestrian street intersects with Rue Porte-Dijeaux. Many in Bordeaux seem to have fond memories of those distinctive mosaic-like paving stone designs, installed back in 1977 and which disappeared during the full-scale overhaul conducted between 2000 and 2003. |
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| Ironically, Place de la Bourse today looks very similar to how it did 111 years ago (the postcard is dated 1905). If a similar overlay had been attempted 20, 30 or 40 years ago, the results would have been very different as the square would have been a mass of parked cars and buses. |
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| This is the southern flank of the Jardin Public, where this elegant bronze statue of top-hatted artist Carle Vernet stood for twenty years from 1922 onwards. The statue was melted down during the Second World War and another statue depicting Vernet now resides in its place. Full story coming soon! |
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| This fountain on Place Fondaudège is still very much in position and the immediate environment hasn't changed that much since the 1920 postcard was produced, other than the influx of cars and motorbikes... not to mention the new-generation trams set to join them here in the not-too-distant future. |
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| When I was outside Sainte-Croix church for the purposes of this photo, I half-expected a horse-drawn carriage like the one on the postcard to pull up in front of me. Unfortunately, this didn't happen! Once again, this is an example of a square which these days looks much the way it probably did back then despite many changes in the interim period. |
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| This street runs along the eastern side of Parc Bordelais. It looks like it was a popular area for a peaceful stroll back in the day, and the atmosphere probably hasn't changed that much: a quiet, pleasant neighbourhood within easy reach of the park's leafy environment. |
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We finish off in Le Bouscat where this elegant street-corner post office can still be found! The elegant 1950s car is no longer parked in the same spot though. Can any expert readers help me identify the model? And if you look carefully, you'll see a little girl hiding in one of the doorways to the left-hand side of the post office building!
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