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Artist Photoshops Scenes From WWII Into Present Day

Posted by samzenpus on from the then-and-now dept.

Russian photographer Sergey Larenkov has taken old World War II photos and photoshopped them over the locations in present day. The scenes from places like Prague, Vienna, and Moscow are incredibly well done and a neat way to appreciate history.

7 of 150 comments (clear)

  1. Very interesting by MBGMorden · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is probably the most interesting use of photoshoping I've seen yet. By seeing the conditions of the streets and buildings merged straight into modern times, you really get a sense of how war-torn the world was at the time.

    --
    "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    1. Re:Very interesting by Charliemopps · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I agree, great idea, but he's not very good at photoshop. Most slashdotters probably have the skills to do better. Although we usually use ours to edit walrus's into various hilarious positions.

    2. Re:Very interesting by NeutronCowboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The difference between a master and an amateur is not the technical skill, but the emotional content of the works. People can study Vermeer's brushstrokes or Ansel Adams' exposure techniques all they want, but it won't make them into their role models.

      Same here. What makes this awesome isn't the user's technical competency of an image editing software. It's the fact that the images created are a powerful reminder of how recent WW2 was, and how little separates us now from them then.

      --
      Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
    3. Re:Very interesting by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't know who's dumber, the AC or the people modding him up. In the first place, changing the base photos from color to monochrome would completely violate and nullify the artistic integrity of the images. The whole aesthetic point is that the past images are ghosts, and the monochromatic color palette is the indicator of that status. If you reduced everything to that level, the past portions would cease to be 'special' and would exude less, if any, otherworldly incongruence which is contrasted to the structural congruence of the image as setting/composition. Go back to art class.

      Secondly, denigrating the technical simplicity of the task is really uncalled for. It doesn't matter that it is technically rather simple to perform, many great works of art are not necessarily difficult in technique, but their value comes from the unique and meaningful perspective of the artist. In this particular case, I have to say that these are some of the most inspired, evocative, and meaningful photo manipulations I have ever seen or am ever likely to see. I care not for how relatively difficult they may or may not have been to produce.

      --
      I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
    4. Re:Very interesting by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I wouldn't even call this photoshopping. All he did was take a photo at the same angle and then use a mask to show various parts.

      Either with lenses with the exact same distortion or correcting for the distortion in the old photo, new photo, or both. And making sure the scale is exactly right for both images.

      Even just finding the exact positioning for the camera to produce the proper alignment is a challenge, especially if it has to be taken with the camera in the middle of modern traffic, or if the terrain has changed enough that you can't stand there anymore.

      In practice, you'll have to make lots of adjustments in post just to get the images aligned properly even if you do get the modern photo taken from the right position with the right angle.

      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  2. This is just a small sampling... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    He's done quite a few: http://sergey-larenkov.livejournal.com/

  3. Re:Locations by strupet · · Score: 4, Informative

    Hei!

    sergeylarenkov000.jpg (3rd photo) is Hofburg in Vienna, Austria ->http://goo.gl/M7r8
    sergeylarenkov11.jpg (11th photo) is Paulanergasse in Vienna ->http://goo.gl/GDJ2 (right next to the TU Wien)

    one of the others seems to me like Budapest, Hungary - but i'm not sure.

    Greetings from Vienna!

    ßeta