Everyone loves 'then and now' photos, especially when they're set in London, and especially when they're transport themed.
But London Transport Museum's latest exhibition, Then and Now: London's transport in photographs, puts an extra twist in the tale.
To mark 25 years since the formation of TfL (not to mention over 160 years of the Underground), the museum has delivered a clever two-hander of a show.
Delving into its archives, curators have pulled out 40 powerful images of transport in London — buses, tickets gates, cashiers — some dating back as far as the 19th century.
The museum has also commissioned photographer and TfL train driver, Anne Maningas, to take a new set of pictures to complement/interact with the vintage ones on show.
Maningas hasn't used a modern camera, however, but a Bronica medium format film camera from the 1990s
— previously used by a photographer and curator from the museum.
Says Maningas: "As someone who works within the transport network, it was a privilege to document it from a different angle. These photos are my way of showing the quiet beauty in the movement of the city."
The grainy, analogue sheen to Maningas' photos adds what she calls "a sense of continuity" to the old photos and new — bridging the age gap, and encouraging you to think twice about their provenance.
And the fact that the 'now' photos aren't necessarily direct comparisons to the 'then' ones (for instance, a 1969 picture of tickets gates at Seven Sisters is twinned with a contemporary photo of barriers at St John's Wood) makes for a rich, artistic exploration of a network that has both changed so much, and yet remained comfortably recognisable to Londoners.
Then and Now: London's transport in photographs is on now at London Transport Museum, and is included in the museum ticket price. This exhibition runs until spring 2026.
