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CUSTOM
HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPH
Photographs
of most properties
in New
York City
from 60 years ago and older!
There were an enormous number of photographs and films shot of New York City, starting as early as 1854. In addition, a substantial number of early films exist, on a wide variety of subject, starting in the late 1880's up to the present time. We offer custom archival research to assist you in obtaining early photographs or films covering any subject. Some of the resources that search through include national archives, state archives, private libraries and other sources. Early footage and photographs are ideal for a wide variety of applications including, but not limited to television and film production, advertising, private display, news stories and obviously, many other applications. In the case of photographs of specific buildings, it is interesting to note that between 1936 and 1941, a photograph was taken of every single property in New York City under the auspices of a federal work program (a WPA project). Each property was photographed using relatively high quality "large format" and/or 35mm cameras. Today, these photographs represent a unique historic view of New York City during the late depression period, just before the start of World War Two. When looking at these photographs, one is transformed back in time to a different era. By almost any standard, it is fascinating to study each photograph and observe a moment of a time gone by. Certain things immediately strikes the viewer. For example, one immediately notices that almost all streets were still paved with cobblestone, trolleys still ran throughout the City, Manhattan still had most of the elevated lines (EL trains) in operation. One can not avoid noticing in many photographs the interesting old cars, the fashion and dress of the period, the Art Deco style signs and ornamentation and the general slower pace of the period. Sadly one also notices how few trees lined New York City's streets back then. Large areas of Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx appear to be completely treeless. (It should be noted that the program to plant trees throughout New York City did not start until the late 1940's to early 1950's.). Between 1982 and 1986, we videotaped a large percentage of every street in Manhattan as well as some portions of the other 4 Boroughs. We also have a photograph of almost every property in Manhattan and certain areas in the other boroughs, photographed at street level, between 1999 and 2002. We now structure pricing based on the time spent to locate a photograph or film plus related copying costs. Please contact us for additional pricing information and terms and conditions of sale or license, . We will do our best to work within your budget.
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