By Wendy Faunce
Marc Hermann, an ex-photographer for the New York Daily News, is bringing history
and present-day together in a project called “Daily News — Then & Now.” The
project consists of a series of photos that combine crime scenes of past
decades with current photos of the locations of those scenes. The result is an
eerie and downright ghostly recreation of the past.
Describing
a black and white photo of a 1951 church fire, Hermann states, “You ask anybody
around the neighborhood today, probably nobody’s old enough to remember that it
ever happened.”
So
what is the purpose of digging up New York City’s past? “The whole point of my
project, really, is to remind people of the history they’re living among here
in the city,” says Hermann.
Walking
into buildings, down streets, or even through doorways, people generally do not
remember those who must have done so 10, 20, 50 years ago. Most do not envision
the history those places must hold, especially places which seem mundane and
ordinary. How much more could people of today understand the world if they saw
it as Marc Hermann does? How much more would people appreciate their community
if they realized that their classrooms, coffee shops, and staircases are gifts
from past generations?
The
“Daily News — Then & Now” project serves as a profound reminder of the
people who came before us and built our homes, our cities, and our nations. It
reminds us to recall the past, but also reminds us to look to the future. We
must remember that the people of the present-day are the people who build up
the communities for future generations. These photos ask us to be sure the
place we live and work is a place that we are unashamed to give to future
generations.
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