Mesmerizing before-and-after GIFs reveal New York City's evolution over 100 years

pulse

July 12, 2017 6:57 PM

These incredible images show how New York City has transformed over time.

New York City has transformed dramatically in the last century.

Andrew Farris, a photographer from Vancouver, documents this evolution by snapping photos in 2017 at spots that he's also found in archive photos. He then meshes the archive images with his photos to create mesmerizing GIFs.

Farris has shot photos in more than 25 cities around the world, including Glasgow, Berlin, and London. One of his newest series is photos from locations around New York City, like Times Square, the Brooklyn Bridge, and Flatiron.

Keep scrolling to see his incredible mashup GIFs of New York City.

One of the five locations Farris scouted is the Brooklyn Bridge. Here is a view of the promenade during the blizzard of 1888 and today.

Here's another a decade later, closer to the arches.

Painters hang from the wires in 1914.

In 1918, thousands gathered at Federal Hall on Wall Street during Armistice Day, a holiday commemorating the peace agreement between the Allies and Germany ending World War I.

In 1876, the city built this Statue of Liberty arm in Madison Square Park. Up until its removal in 1882, anyone could pay $0.50 to climb the torch.

In front of the Flatiron building next to the park, painter Neysa McMein waved the American flag during a parade in 1917.

Thirty blocks north, the Vanderbilts lived in a mansion where a Zara store now resides. The archive photo below is from 1897.

In the early 1900s, Penn Station featured extravagant columns at its entrance. Today, it has a simpler facade.

Times Square in the early 20th century didn't have the flashy ads it boasts today.

The billboards of yesteryear also advertised some products that wouldn't be found on city billboards today, like this 1943 ad for Camel cigarettes:

In 1915, hordes of men stood in line for fresh bread down 41st Street. Today, the spot is construction site:

Looking down Broadway, a sign announces the show "Florenz Ziegfeld's Follies," which ran during the summer of 1908. The pictured Hammerstein's Olympia entertainment complex eventually transformed into a Lowe's theater.

Farris and a few of his friends plan to launch an app allowing anyone to make similar historical GIFs from of their own photos. You can find out more information on his site, Facebook, or Instagram.

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