On this spot

January 29, 2016 8:16 AM

On This Spot is a history blog that focusses on then and now photography, comparing historical and contemporary photographs of the same locations. Locations include cities and battlefields in the UK, Germany, France, Japan and Canada.
posted by Dim Siawns (6 comments total)

What we learn: ALL THINGS CHANGE. NOTHING PERSISTS
posted by Postroad at 8:29 AM on January 29, 2016

sio42 Do you mean the Normandy beach shot? My guess would be that it's low tide. If you mean the big cargo ship in the modern Vancouver shot I think it's just riding high in the water because it's unloaded.
posted by Wretch729 at 8:54 AM on January 29, 2016

Thanks, I love this kind of thing.
posted by languagehat at 8:54 AM on January 29, 2016

Oh wow. Thanks.
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 10:45 AM on January 29, 2016

I love these. I have two "Then and Now" books of my city that I love pouring through and then when I'm physically at that spot, I try to recreate the "Then" image in my head as look at the "Now". One of the books I have is now thirty years old itself so even the "Now" images are often much different than reality.
posted by octothorpe at 11:10 AM on January 29, 2016

I am still nosing around the site, this is really neat, thanks Dim Siawns!

sio42 I think the perspective of the photo is tricking your eye. The boat isn't that big (look at the men next to it) and it is closer to the camera than the building. If you look at the building on Google maps you can see how far back it's set from the beach, and that there is a seawall.

I don't know the tidal difference at Bernieres-sur-Mer (Juno Beach) where the photo was shot but I've read that the difference between low and high tide at Omaha Beach was around 6 meters. Assuming something similar that's certainly enough to refloat that vessel.
posted by Wretch729 at 11:57 AM on January 29, 2016