June 9, 2017 Comments Off on Then and Now Blend of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Views: 3107 Looking Back, Nostalgia

San Francisco Then and Now

On the morning of 18th April, at 5:12 a.m. to be exact, a severe earthquake woke the people of San Francisco. The hazardous earthquake was with an estimated magnitude of 7.8 or a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI. This extreme category of an earthquake is still evoked as one of the most perilous events that have ever occurred in

This extreme category of an earthquake is still evoked as one of the most perilous events that have ever occurred in the city of San Francisco.

For a moment after the shake, the entire city had gone in silence, but buildings began falling quickly after. The city’s downtown crumbled as broken gas lines burst into flame. A great fire had engulfed the city and in the next three days, almost 80% of the major port city on the West Coast was diminished to rubble.

More than a century later, photographer Shawn Clover decided to conduct a photography project, blending photos taken right after the 1906 earthquake, and those of modern-day San Francisco.

Clover had made a tremendous effort in locating the exact spots where the photographers have once stood for taking the old photos. Setting the equivalent focal length of the camera to capture the shot, and not missing out the exact same high off the ground where the camera was, were some of the additional technical challenges.

“After sifting through catalogs of library photos of the devastation of San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake, I picked out a variety of photos taken from April 18, 1906, to 1907 that I felt give a well-rounded depiction of what was going on in the city at the time,” writes Clover about the project.

However, Clover had found out that it was improbable to replicate many of the original photos because the city’s landscape has changed so much within a century. Many of the original photos he had planned using were impossible to be recreated as their photographer was positioned in a place where a building stands at current.

His original idea has been to tear away a piece of the modern photo to expose the 1906 photo, but that has steadily evolved into something much more playful and creative. Clover had proceeded in blending softly the then and now photos together, resulting in a striking series of composite photographers, entitled “1906 + 2010: The Earthquake Blend”. Here’s a selection of the series.

Shocked residents walk in confusion amid the devastation as well as a cable car can be seen headed towards California Street incline.

A woman walks pretty close to a pit of rubble on 5th St by the US Mint. However, the Mint has done a striking job of enduring during the quake.

The fallen Valencia St. Hotel and a vast sinkhole that overwhelms the street. A bicyclist is just about to pass by the site.

Swiped away buildings looms in the background, as cars and horse carriage can be seen in front of Lafayette Park.

A pile of bricks and cable car #445 can be seen resting halfway in the partially-diminished cable car barn.

One more photo of California Street that reveals more destruction, however, the old St. Marys Cathedral has been saved.

Horses killed by falling rubble lie on Sacramento Street. A century later, a woman is about to enter her Mercedes while more ghosts of the past lurk in the background.

The girls can be seen right before the partially destroyed Sharon Building in Golden Gate Park as students work on their art projects inside.

The Hibernia Bank building has suffered well from a fire but is holding on. In front the block, pedestrians cross Jones St towards a pile of rubble on Market Street.

A little green in the front is in contrasts with the grim background that opens to show more of the destruction. People walk up California Street, giving a sense of the future, that life will go on as normal as ever.

Photography credits: Shawn Clover

See more at Clover’s official webpage here

Tags: 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, san francisco, Shawn Clover photography