40 People Share “Then And Now” Photos To Show How Significantly Time Changes Things

Time changes everything, buildings, landscapes, and the people who move through them. Sometimes the shift is so gradual that it slips by unnoticed until a side-by-side photo makes it impossible to ignore.

That is exactly why then-and-now photography is so compelling. The subreddit r/OldPhotosInRealLife brings together 596k users who compare old images with present-day shots, creating striking rephotography pairings that show how places evolve over time.

From historic landmarks to city streets and famous ruins, these comparisons turn history into something immediate. Here are 40 of the most interesting examples, and they are hard to look away from.

1. "St Francis Of Assisi Church"

englishdemon

2. "Trains At Harper's Ferry, WV In 1947 And 2021. The 1947 Image Taken By Ed Wittekind, 2021 Image Shot By Me In The Same Exact Spot"

AGuyFromMaryland

3. "A Former Public Bath In Wuppertal, Germany, Now A Brewery And Beer Hall. 1993 vs. 2019"

Injustpotato

4. "The Royal Mile, Edinburgh, Scotland - C.1847 And Today"

Le_Rat_Mort

5. "It Hasn't Changed Much In 157 Years, Aside From The Platform Height And Electrification. The World's Oldest Underground Station, Baker Street! *Saxophone Plays In The Distance*"

jjnfsk

Some places really do look frozen in time.

6. "The Golden Cross Inn, Coventry. 1819 vs. Now"

Islamism

7. "Milan, Italy 1950s And 2021"

Axelxxela

8. "Visitors In The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, Viewing Painting (Emanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing The Delaware - 1851) 1910 And 2019"

d7mtg

9. "The Berlin Wall Fell 31 Years Ago Today!"

jofurch

10. "Machu Picchu, Peru. 1915 & 2020"

Tuccano-

11. "Ancient Greece Before And After Excavation"

Just_Another_Gen-Zer

12. "The Big Oak; Thomasville, GA (1895/2020)"

thegregtastic

13. "Court Of The Lions, Granada, Spain - 1840 And Today"

Le_Rat_Mort

14. "The Royal Crescent, Bath, UK. 1829-2020. Built 1774"

TogderNodger

15. "English Tank In The Streets Of My Town, 1945-2021"

Timonius262

16. "Theodore Roosevelt Would Be Proud"

sethsta

17. "Hiroshima 75 Years Ago"

Adamstowellll

18. "Town Square In Uelzen, Lower Saxony, Germany - During The Battle Of The Rhine, April 1945 And 2021"

DiosMioMan2

19. "Church St. Martin In Cologne, Germany 1946 And 2021"

Etsu87

20. "Arch Of Constantine In Rome, 1943 (Taken By My Grandfather), And What It Looks Like Today"

PrivateTumbleweed

The contrast between war-torn streets and modern skylines is hard to miss.

And if you love “then and now” vibes, these Old Masters paintings that feel like influencers are weirdly modern.

21. "Woodstock Festival Site - 1969 / 2020"

spkelly37

22. "Unfinished Manhattan Bridge In 1908 And Now"

reddit.com

23. "Craftsmanship"

b-e-e-p-b-e-e-p

24. "Amazing Looking Home Restored In Detroit. 1993 And Now"

reddit.com

25. "Abandoned Restaurant In Petrópolis, Brazil (1960s And 2013)"

Mackelowsky

26. "Van Gogh’s ‘Cafe Terrace At Night’ From 1888 And Present"

jazz4

27. "Buenos Aires, Argentina [1925, 1980, 2002, 2021]"

patagoniac

28. "The Main Entrance To The City, York, England 1865 - 2015"

hasanah78

29. "Here Is My Great-Great-Grandfather’s Nashville House In 1896, Two Years Before My Grandfather Was Born. This Picture Has Always Been In The Family, Of Course, But Only Today Did I Use Google Maps To Look Up The Address And Find Out How It Looks Today. I’m Thrilled That I Found It"

pappard57

30. "Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur, India. 1798 Lithograph By Thomas Daniell And 2016. Built Between 1003-1010"

1NbSHXj3

31. "Kraków, Poland (1939 And 2010s)"

Mackelowsky

32. "Hong Kong’s Kowloon Peninsula 1964 - 2016"

Logan-rice88

33. "Hick's Court, St Ives, England - 1888 And Today"

Le_Rat_Mort

34. "Today vs. Childhood Memory"

MrMacBro

35. "My Family Farm C.1900/2000. It Was In Our Family For 125 Years. My Childhood Bedroom Window Is In The Top Center. It Was Also My Father’s And My Grandfather’s Bedroom"

pappard57

36. "Mount Rushmore"

sethsta

37. "Czech Out Prague 1910 And 2020"

Stotallytob3r

38. "In 2005, Some Friends And I Found The Road To Jabba's Palace Off Twenty Mule Team Canyon In Death Valley, CA"

hitokirivader

39. "Stonehenge: 1877 And 2019"

ProjectFailure

40. "Curtiss C-46 Commando, One Of Pablo Escobar / Carlos Lehder’s Drug Smuggling Planes Near Norman’s Cay In The Bahamas, After 35 Years Submerged In Saltwater"

abaganoush

These photos make time feel a lot more tangible.

Places and landscapes change with time, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Countless photographs have been taken around the world over the years.

A small group of history and photography enthusiasts combed through the images to match locations, taking photos in the present to compare with photos from the past. The results are simply wonderful and eye-opening.

That is what makes these comparisons so satisfying.

Want more proof time is ruthless? Check out 100 historical moments that prove the past was anything but boring.