Comparing photographs of a place from different times can be powerful. It shows how much things change, or sometimes, how they stay surprisingly similar. Photographer Marc Hermann took this idea and applied it in a unique and thought-provoking way in New York City. He looked back through the huge collection of pictures at the New York Daily News newspaper. His goal was to find old photos taken at the scenes of crimes.
These old photos capture moments of tragedy and tension that happened decades ago on the city’s streets. They show police officers working, maybe yellow tape blocking off an area, old model cars parked nearby and sometimes crowds of onlookers watching the scene unfold. The buildings in the background look different too, with older styles of signs or architecture common for that time period. The lighting, the graininess of the film, and the clothing people wore all place these images firmly in the past. They show a city with a different feel, marked by specific, often sad, events.
After finding these historic crime scene images, Marc Hermann went to the exact locations in New York City today. He took new photographs of the very same street corners, building fronts, or alleyways. His goal was to line up the modern photos perfectly with the old ones. He matched the angles and perspectives so that when you see the two pictures together, you are looking at the identical spot, just separated by many years.
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When these “then” and “now” photos are placed side-by-side, they create a striking contrast. The street corner that was once a chaotic scene with flashing lights and investigators is now just a regular sidewalk where people walk their dogs or wait for a bus. The building entrance police tape was stretched across might now have a brightly lit storefront or a different kind of door. Modern cars are parked along the curb where vintage vehicles once sat. The people in the present-day photos are just going about their normal day, likely unaware of the dramatic history of that specific location.
Seeing these images together creates a haunting feeling. It makes the past feel incredibly close. The tragic events documented in the old photographs didn’t happen in some far-off, disconnected place; they happened right here, on the very streets and sidewalks that New Yorkers use every single day. It reveals a hidden layer of history beneath the ordinary surface of the modern city. The routine sights of today – a fire hydrant, a street lamp, a set of steps – were all present when something terrible occurred at that spot decades ago.
