I have written previously about photographs made at the sites of famous paintings, and about using Google Maps to investigate and record the locations of well-known photographs. A similar mash-up of art and technology has been developed by the Tate and Google, which demonstrates just how much the British landscape has changed since the time of Turner and Constable.

This article in the Guardian tells the story, or you could just skip straight to the slideshow. Seeing one of Constable’s pastoral images followed by the contemporary view is jarring, to say the least.

That moment of recognition reminded me very much of the feeling I got when I first saw these two photographs from Frank Gohlke’s Aftermath series.

Aftermath: The Wichita Falls, Texas, Tornado No. 10A and 10B - Maplewood Avenue, near Sikes Senter Mall, looking east, 1979/1980. Photography by Frank Gohlke

Within the context of the entire Aftermath series, these two images have an even stronger impact. Gohlke’s recent book Accomodating Nature features several photos from this series, and is very much worth a visit to the library.

If you’re bored of thinking of time on a scale of years and centuries, how about moving to a geological scale, as in Jem Southam’s Rockfalls of Normandy?

Vaucottes, November 2005, Vaucottes, February 2006, by Jem Southam

OK, that last pair are only a few months apart, but you get my drift.

Many thanks to Dr. Steven Zucker from the wonderful smarthistory.org for the heads up on the Guardian article.