George Bradford Brainerd, a Brooklyn-born engineer with a passion for photography, built cameras with which he photographed New York City from 1872 to 1877.

In an attempt to bring light to Brainerd’s accomplishments, present day photographer Jordan Liles created a video project that juxtaposes Brainerd’s pictures with current ones taken from the same locations.

Liles stated he saw several articles online comparing photographs of New York City from the 1960's to today and asked himself, “Instead of going back 50 years, what if we could compare today to the earliest surviving photos?”  

Locations featured in this astounding video below are The Brooklyn Institute, The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Public Library, Green-Wood Cemetery, Museum of the City of New York, The New York Historical Society, Long Island Historical Society, and more.

Here’s a Real NYC Throwback: Black-and-White Vintage Film of the 1905 Subway.

[via Daily Mail]