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kottke.org posts about Albert Kahn

1910s Paris color photos redone in contemporary Paris

In past few months, I linked to two collections of color photos of Paris taken in the 1910s and 1920s under the direction of Albert Kahn.

Albert Kahn Paris

Recently Rue89 sent photographer Audrey Cerdan to recapture some of those old scenes in modern day Paris and knocked up an interface so that you can slide back and forth between the old and current photos. In some of the pairs of photos, pharmacies, tabacs, and boulangeries are in the same places. (thx, christophe)


Color Photography of Paris From 1914

Albert Kahn sent photographers all over the world in the early 1900s and amassed over 72,000 color photos in the process. Here are a few shots of his from Paris on the eve of World War I.

Albert Kahn Paris

That photo is of the entrance to the Passage du Caire at the corner of Rue d’Alexandrie and Rue Sainte-Foy in the 2nd arrondissement. Here’s what it looks like today:

Passage Du Caire


Color photographs from a lost world

Albert Kahn was a French banker and philanthropist who financed an extensive photography project in the early 1900s. His photographers traveled all around the world, eventually amassing a collection 72,000 color photos.

Albert Kahn

Albert Kahn

Kahn’s project is the subject of a 9-part BBC documentary that’s showing on Ovation this week. All the episodes repeat on Saturday starting at noon. (via constant siege)