Monochrome Vintage Photos II

A photography project that has taken months of planning, shooting and editing, “Old-time Auckland” delves into the history of New Zealand’s biggest city, while pushing future technologies with music production and AI learning.

“Old-time Auckland” is a sequel to MVP’s most popular YouTube video. Currently with over 46,000 views, “Auckland, Then and Now” was a 2021 lock-down photography project that recreated Henry Winkelmann’s 100-year-old iconic photos of the city. This new video features more old photos, but from 29 new inner-city locations.

However, some of those old locations aren’t as accessible as they used to be. 

A couple of examples are the old fire bell tower (now privately owned) and the photo taken from the crow’s nest of a sailing ship berthed at Princes Wharf.

Luckily, at each of these locations, friendly Aucklanders gave up their time to allow the new photos to be retaken as closely as possible. The team at FENZ arranged access to their newer fire tower across Pitt Street, and special access was granted to ServCorp’s rooftop balcony on Princes Wharf – the approximate location of the tall ship’s mast from 101 years before. 

Some of the mid-century photos have been edited to fit. This is because those photographers weren’t necessarily trying to line up their shot with Winkelmann’s, meaning a smooth transition wasn’t possible without some editing. An example here is the former Farmer’s building on Hobson Street.

To highlight 100 years of change, a 1920’s era jazz song “Living The Dream” plays throughout the video. This swinging number references popular Auckland hotspots, while the gramophone crackles away and skips in time with the projector. What’s interesting here is that the catchy track was not sung by some centenarian flapper during the great depression – it was performed entirely by Artificial Intelligence (AI) in May 2024. 

“Using an AI tool in this context just emphasises how far we’ve come in 100 years.”
– Jonty from MVP

After re-taking Winkelmann’s original photos, Jonty wrote the song lyrics and used AI website Suno to produce the music. The tune, vocals and instruments are all digitally produced by the website.

“In this case, friends were able to make suggestions during some of the earlier cuts, which I then edited in without the need of a physical studio or a band to re-record the song.”

The music ties in with the photos to tell an in-depth story, with the revealing transitions all perfectly in time to complete the video. 

What does “Old-time Auckland” say for the future of Auckland?

“Cities are always changing. You can see next to the Yates Buildings that something new is coming. We can embrace the future, but we also need to protect the heritage buildings that we have in the present, so that following generations long into the future will be able to look back into the past.”

References:
Auckland: Then and Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErbFAvkVddo&

Old photo credits as listed.

Music, Video, Photos. MVP.
www.mvp.org.nz

© Copyright MVP 2024

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For Henry’s full online photographic collection, visit: Auckland Libraries