Over London: A Century of Change [Idioma Inglés] - Hardcover

Over London: A Century of Change reveals just how much London has changed in the latter half of the 20th century. By juxtaposing aerial photographs from the 1920s-’40s with newly commissioned helicopter shots, the patterns and shape of London’s evolution is revealed.

Jason Hawkes is the most successful aerial photographer working in Britain today, while the most extensive aerial archive in the country is that of Aerofilms, with a huge number of pictures that date back to just after the First World War.

The concept behind this fascinating new book is a simple one – to show the enormous changes that have taken place in London over the past 75 years or so by juxtaposing around 85 archive pictures from Aerofilms with 85 contemporary pictures by Jason Hawkes.

Jason’s shots will be as near as possible from the same perspective and with the same crop as the earlier ones. It will be an extraordinary record of how some parts of London are changed in minor details only, whereas others, such as the City and Docklands, are barely recognizable.

In 1921, when the earliest of the photographs in this book was taken, George V was on the throne, David Lloyd George was Prime Minister, and Queen Elizabeth II had not even been born. That same year, over in France, the first helicopter made its shaky maiden flight, hitting international headlines.

Almost eighty years later, booking a helicopter to take the colour photographs for this book was a matter of routine for photographer Jason Hawkes, who had to dodge between the air ambulance, the ‘flying eye’ and air traffic in and out of London City Airport. It was a far cry from the biplanes, with their wire stays for strengthening the wings, used by Aerofilms for the eary photography. Jason Hawkes had been inspired by these old pictures of London, and decided to re-create the same views, to provide graphic evidence of just how much the capital has changed during the intervening years. The result is a book that combines the fascination of an aerial history lesson with the fun of ‘spot the difference’.

By juxtaposing its old and new images, Over London provides a unique look back through time, tracking the city during a century of extraordinary progrss. Today, Aerofilms’ photographs evoke nostalgia, while Jason Hawkes’ images are a marvel of modernity. In eighty years’ time, though, they will be as old as the old pictures are now, and it will be time to take new photographs of the same views all over again.