Old photography fascinates me. It's the great recorder of how life was, the things people wore, the way people got around... it's the living historian that can't lie. But it's funny how the "good old days" are never the good old days when you're living in them. I could go put my camera in the same exact position and take photos of the same street scenes that you see here, but they would be insanely boring. But to a person living 100 years from now this photo would be pretty damn interesting. This is what makes photography great.





Another thing that humbles me is how much more you had to know and do to be a photographer back then. We are all spoiled by the modern digital pixels that have whored the art of photography almost beyond recognition. But that's ok, I'm not complaining. I probably wouldn't have made it back in the day. The sharpness and range in these 8x10 negatives is stunning. It's ironic that their quality is actually diminished by the digital scanning.





Anyway, if you've never heard of Shorpy.com , you need to check it out. It is a huge online collection of thousands of high res photos mostly taken 100+ years old. It's fantastic. So here are a few I found from New Orleans and Louisiana taken around the turn of the century. It's cool to see how little this place has changed over the past few hundred years.





What's sad is how much this city has lost, even before Katrina. Beautiful and historic buildings, neighborhoods, churches, libraries- all of which seem to have been demolished in the 1950's and replaced with the ugliest architecture the world has ever seen. If it were up to me I would destroyed every building built in the 1950's and 60's. I'm not even kidding.





Be sure to check out Shorpy ...always interesting. Enjoy a little history.



[UPDATE] For whatever reason, this blog post has gotten over 11,000 hits in the past week. A new record for this site, for sure. It appears that I am not the only one with an interest in old photography. So, I have updated this page and added many more photos.



Also, all of these photos are the original size...meaning, if you right click the picture and open in a new tab you will see glorious details that you would have otherwise missed. It's fascinating to see people, signs, dogs, fashion, cars....just life in general. Enjoy.



Update on the update: apparently blogger maxes the size of my uploads at 1600px...what a shame. Check out Shorpy.com for the original hugeness.



Enjoy the photos and feel free to share away! And comment below!





The abandoned Belle Grove mansion in White Castle, LA. These photos were taken in 1938, years after its abandonment. When it was built in 1857 it was the largest mansion in the south and comprised of more than 75 rooms. It has since burned to the ground.





I would have seriously considered amputation of a limb to have explored this place.







