While touring the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, Mike and I were really looking forward to checking out the Celluloid Seattle exhibit. I love trying to find pop culture locations when visiting any city, and this display took the guess work out of it for us. From Frasier to Sleepless in Seattle to 10 Things I Hat About You, we had fun seeing how much had been filmed in the area. A model of the Fremont Troll even encouraged us to search it out when we got back to our hotel. Stay tuned for that photo set.
After the popularity of my original ghosting images from my Around the Hat series, it was only a matter of time before I gave it another go. Using archival images from my hometown of Medicine Hat, Alberta as inspiration, I set out to photograph these locations in 2013 from the same vantage points as their archival counterparts. By ghosting archival images the history is immediately made more dramatic. Specific changes become easy to recognize with a ghosted image creating a bridge between substantial periods of time. It's a really unique way of looking at a place like Medicine Hat, especially because it's a perspective that's seldom explored in this city.
Third Street Downtown- 2013 merged with 1940s This scene shows the width of the street before the crosswalk flowerbeds had been installed - notice the car and modern truck on the left.
Assiniboia Inn - 2013 merged with 1950 Here we have the pre-renovation hotel buildings merged with the current Assiniboia. The interesting thing is that this scene spans the time just before the hotel and with it as an abandoned location now.
BMO Bank construction - 2013 merged with 1960s This scene shows the construction of the new bank following the demolition of the original post office. You can see the original Bank of Montreal building (now gone) on the right.
Fifth Avenue Church construction - 2013 merged with 1912 I loved creating this ghosted image. Here we see the framework of the church merged with the grown in trees and complete structure just over a century later.
Pingles Book and Drug Interior - 2013 merged with 1940s The vacant storefront is merged with the original Pingle's interior here. A drop ceiling now covers the original tin ceiling seen here.
St. John's Church - 2013 merged with 1915 This ghosted image shows the original entrance to St. John's that was covered during a mid-century renovation and expansion. The chimney on the left is also no longer there.
Hargrave Sissons Block - 2013 merged with 1905 The contrast of the traffic light with the horse and buggy emphasizes the span of time. Also, the unpainted brick in 1905 with the modern day stripped paint shows just how many layers there have been over the decades.
City buses outside Cypress Club - 2013 merged with 1960s The vintage buses are pretty cool, but this scene is made even more memorable by the ghosted city hall in the background which is no longer there.
Bus Depot - 2013 merged with 1940s Today this building is the Ming Court restaurant, but this ghosted image shows that this art deco design was originally for the city's bus depot.
Train Station - 2013 merged with 1910s It has been decades since the train station has seen a crowd like this. Here we have a vintage postcard merged with the modern station.
Dreamland Theatre - 2013 merged with 1910s This unassuming building next to the modern parkade used to house one of Medicine Hat's movie theatres. Here we see the original facade merged with the modern one.
Granada Building - 2013 merged with 1960s This building once featured a beautiful art deco facade. Here we see some of the new sidings merged with this vintage street scene.
Beveridge Block - 2013 merged with 1950s Most notable in this ghosted image is the loss of the original Bank of Montreal building after the new bank was constructed.
Third Street Downtown - 2013 merged with 1940s Here we have a WW2 rally merged with the modern street.
Medalta Potteries - 2013 merged with 1910s This scene shows the current facades of Medalta merged with the factory while it was under construction.
Gaslight Plaza - 2013 merged with 1970s Here we have the corner of Gaslight Plaza merged with the vintage Eatons sign that no longer hangs there.
Sixth Avenue Downtown - 2013 merged with 1920s Here's a glimpse at how vibrant the downtown once was. Notice the storefront canopies on the left and the Dreamland Theatre on the right.
Making our way through downtown Spokane, we ended up at Riverfront Park and decided to take a quick tour of the area. This was just a brief stop before we left for Palouse Falls and then continued on to Portland. That's what I love about a good road trip - always lots to see and do.