THREE-QUARTERS of a century after an unknown couple photographed their journey through Switzerland, an Dublin artist retraced their steps and captured the same shots 75 years on.
Both sets of photographs can be viewed at an exhibition at the KT Contemporary buildings on Donnybrook Road, Dublin, this month.
“The idea came about two years ago when I was at art college – one of the technicians was asking me about my interest in travelling photography and he told me about this album,” said David Killeen.
He bought the original photograph album for €4 in an online sale. It contained not only photographs but very specific captions detailing the place and date every picture was taken. It also came with a map which plotted the couple’s route.
He went to Switzerland in 2009 and found the various sites with ease. He repeated the journey in August and September 2010, when he took each photograph on the exact date it was originally taken 75 years earlier.
Old-fashioned buildings and wooden shacks seen in the 1935 black and white photographs stand out just as prominently in the 2010 landscapes.
“What had changed noticeably was the environment. There is a mountain that was covered in snow and now isn’t. There was a glacier that was not there anymore. The volume of water in a waterfall had dropped dramatically,” said Mr Killeen.
A preview of the images can be seen on davidkilleen.com.