Dutch historian Jo Hedwig Teeuwisse has an incredible series of WWII photos blended into images of the same location in the present day. In a collection on Flickr entitled Ghosts of History, Jo takes us on a visual tour of the past. In her own words:
“By combining historical pictures with photos made on the exact same spot today, I try to make people realise that history is all around us. That where you live, work or go to school, once people fought, died or simply experienced a different kind of life. We are history, history is us.
Originally made as part of my research, I now make these combination photos because of my interest for the subject and to try and make people think about the past, remember and respect the sacrifices the generations before us made. I’ve spend countless hours doing research, trying to figure out where old photos were taken, visiting the location, making the ‘today photo’ and then combining them.
My passion for history but also my knowledge of the past and experience as a film maker helps me tell a story by deciding what to remove, what to let seep trough and what to accentuate.”
Be sure to check out the entire series on Flickr. You can also find Jo on Facebook for the latest project updates.
1. Cherbourg, Normandy, France
2. Cherbourg, Normandy, France
Captain WH Hooper, who commands the Company of the 314th IR of the 79th IUS D and some of his men surround a column of German prisoners. Column takes a southerly direction, it will join the POW camps located on the plateau of the Mountain Roule, near the farm of Fieffe. [Source]
3. Acireale, Sicily, Italy, 1943
Ten miles North of Catania two British Bren gunners and their assistants cover a street corner on the Via Vittorio Emmanuele II in Acireale. The house on the left is No. 191 in that street today. [Source]
4. France, 1944
5. Cherbourg, Normandy, France, 1944
6. Sainte Marie du Mont, France
At la Madeleine, a hamlet of the town of Sainte Marie du Mont, Utah Beach area. A group of U.S. Fire Engineering leaving the chapel. [Source]
7. The Hague, The Netherlands, 1945
German soldiers walking back to Germany after their surrender, walk passed a man with a Dutch flag. The Hague, May 1945. [Source]
8. France, 1944
9. Cherbourg, Normandy, France
10. Cherbourg, Normandy, France
11. Cherbourg, Normandy, France
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