img. Panoramic view of encampments near Peshawar, as seen from Ali Musjid. 1878-1879, John Burke. Rijksmuseum, public domain, via Europeana.

Bruno Vandermeulen, expert photographer and digital asset manager at KU Leuven, and one of the founder members of Photoconsortium, just published a blog for Europeana Photography and Europeana Migration collections about the renewed interest in vintage and vernacular photography, that generates a creative flourishing of artworks even between contemporary photographers.

In particular, the blog tells about the recent project by Simon Norfolk, who went to Afghanistan shooting photos that recreate the spirit of those taken in 1878 by John Burke, the first photos produced in Afghanistan known to date. The shooting campaign of Norfolk, which drove to the realization of a book and and exhibition, included the same types of subjects as Burke captured: portraits, city views and military installations. Norfolk’s images are mixed with Burke’s to form one body of work. The Burke + Norfolk project highlights analogies and similarities: here, history is clearly repeating itself, over a time lapse of 130 years.

Read the full blog on Europeana.