These two images of Washington Square Park were both taken in April but 79 years apart: 1936 to 2015. The top photo was taken by noted period photographer Berenice Abbot. What a clever idea to juxtapose two photos capturing the same view from different eras on the same day! This comes via The Bird Feed NYC. Shot is taken from the southern perimeter of the park slightly east of the center looking north.
Berenice Abbot captured many distinctive black & white shots of New York City architecture primarily in the 1930s and lived in Greenwich Village. This photograph is part of the archive at the New York Public Library Digital Collections.
The same day view captured in 2015 is by Carina Zimmerman who runs The Bird Feed NYC site. Carina is a musician, vegan and loves Washington Square Park!
I wrote more about this Abbot photo in 2009:
Washington Square Park, 1936. No Fences… very sparsely landscaped but very inviting. This shot is facing North. Fountain is to the left un-“aligned” to the Arch and in the location it had been since 1871 – in the center, at the park’s east-west axis – until the redesign of the space this year by Bloomberg Administration.
(It does feel a bit like a University campus tho’, doesn’t it?)
The tree in the foreground is apparently no longer there and was made into a totem pole. Is that still there?
Top Photo: Berenice Abbot
Bottom Photo: Carina Zimmerman