The Life-Sized City Blog

Købmagergade by Kronprinsensgade - looking north Addendum: Below is the above shot from 1907, in a coloured version. Same angle. Lots of life on the street. No-one choking on car exhaust or diving to safety from vehicles. From the FB group Gamle København. My heart leapt a little when I discovered a series of photographs taken by a Copenhagener, Finn Lustrup, back in 1973. This series is of Købmagergade - one of the two main pedestrian streets in the heart of the Danish capital. Finn Lustrup, born in Copenhagen in 1951, has a fantastic archive of photo material from the streets of Copenhagen throughout a long period of time. I asked him some questions about why he ended up with his brilliant archive. "My interest for photography started in 1965, when I recieved a photo album as a confirmation gift. I borrowed cameras until I bought my own in 1972 and my photography really took off. I was there when the #5 tram line was removed and it was then I really started taking p...

Before the Girl from Ipanema, there was the Bicycle from Copacabana. 1940s. While we are slowly chipping away at the bizarre but nonetheless prevalant misconceptions that bicycles are a new-fangled intruder in cities and all the ridiculous comments like "people won't cycle here... it's too hot/cold/hilly/", they remain a hurdle. Despite over a century of evidence to the contrary. Cycling was a normal transport form in Rio de Janeiro. Someone should tell the president of the Brazilian national oil company Petrobras. She was quoted recently that she "loves traffic jams. They're good for business." Lord knows what she'll do if she sees these photos from the 1940s. Bicycle parking on Copacabana Beach, 1940s. We love the classic Danish Bulldog child's seat . Rio de Janeiro. 1940s. For more photos that , here are some from Los Angeles , Canberra , Queensland , New South Wales , Vancouver , Singapore , Dublin .