Shawn Clover
The 1906 earthquake in San Francisco lasted only 42 seconds but it led to out-of-control fires that raged for days.
Buildings collapsed and burnt, sinkholes opened up, railroad tracks and cable cars were damaged. Some 25,000 buildings perished in the fires, 20,000 people were displaced, and 90% of San Francisco was destroyed.
Many of the fires were caused by firefighters who used dynamite to demolish buildings to create firebreaks, but only made matters worse. The buildings loaded with dynamite caught fire themselves and exacerbated the inferno.
By 1906, photography was a common enough hobby and a number of survivors managed to capture images of the earthquake aftermath.
Photographer Shawn Clover looked through the photos taken at the time to find buildings or areas that can still be found in San Francisco today. He made mashups of the old images blending in the present scenery, creating a ghost-like effect of reflecting back over 100 years to one of the key events that changed the city forever.
Clover has kindly given us permission to feature his project ‘1906 + Today: The Earthquake Blend.’