Ghostlines

Over the years, I’ve created many Then & Now comparisons showing how Stoke Newington’s streets have changed. These have included side-by-side photographs, animated transitions and photographic mashups combining historic and present-day views.

Ghostlines takes a different approach.

Using historic photographs as references, I’ve been experimenting with reconstructing lost buildings and shopfronts as glowing, semi-transparent outlines positioned within photographs of the same locations today.

Rather than replacing part of a modern photograph with an old one, the technique traces the architectural features of what once stood there. Windows, doorways, rooflines, decorative details and shop signs appear as outlines, while the present-day streetscape remains visible underneath.

The result is a visualisation in which the past and present occupy the same space, revealing the scale, appearance and position of buildings and architectural features that have disappeared.

How Ghostlines works

Each visualisation begins with a historic photograph and a present-day view of the same location.

Using AI-assisted image generation and editing, I reconstruct the outlines of the former building based on architectural details visible in the original photograph. The outlines are positioned within the modern scene, with adjustments to scale, perspective, transparency and alignment.

The glowing lines highlight the original architecture while allowing the present-day surroundings to remain visible.

Unlike a conventional photographic mashup, which blends images from two different periods, Ghostlines isolates the architectural outlines. This makes it possible to visualise buildings that have been demolished entirely, as well as shopfronts and other features that have disappeared through alterations to surviving buildings.

The collection

The collection includes former churches, municipal buildings, pubs, shops and residential streets across Stoke Newington.

Some examples show buildings destroyed during the Second World War, including St Faith’s Church in Londesborough Road. Others show buildings lost through redevelopment, such as Stoke Newington’s first Town Hall in Milton Grove and the Victorian shops cleared for the Yorkshire Grove Estate.

There are also former shops that have been converted into homes, including the bakery at 33 Nevill Road and A. Pagliaro’s confectionery and tobacconist shop at number 11.

Each example includes three images: the Ghostlines visualisation, the historic photograph used as a reference and a photograph of the location today.

Historical accuracy

Ghostlines visualisations are AI-assisted interpretations based on historic photographs, rather than exact architectural reconstructions.

I aim to reproduce the original buildings and shopfronts as accurately as the available photographic evidence allows. However, details that are obscured or not recorded in the source photographs may be approximate, and the results should not be treated as measured architectural representations.

The purpose is to provide another way of examining Stoke Newington’s changing streetscape, making it easier to visualise what once stood in places we pass every day.