Ghosts of the Past Appear in These Haunting Images

“All the people in these pictures are strangers from the past, most probably dead” says Leipzig-based photographer Frank Machalowski discussing his latest series Ghosts of… And yet in these photographs we see the deceased making a ghostly appearance in different European cities in the present day.

When browsing an old flea market on the lookout for old cameras the photographer stumbled upon a stand selling a huge collection of old photographs, all portraits. Frank examined the photographs he purchased there and had a sudden impulse to transfer all these people to the present.

Each resulting photograph is a fusion of Frank’s own image and a vintage photograph. Frank used a self-made anamorphic pinhole camera to photograph in various locations including Prague, London, Dresden, Leipzig and Berlin. He combined these 6×6 film photographs using vintage portraits on photoshop, adding some “ghostly” effects.

Essentially this series is about time and its passing. In these haunting images the artist blends the past and present, reflecting his fascination with chronological classification and photographic manipulation to create the illusion of “rising from the dead”.

All images © Frank Machalowski

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