Cities Elapsed

Perusing an now-ancient post about a day in the life of Winnipeg, Manitoba as depicted through atmospheric, often captivating time-lapse photography has led me on an ongoing search for other similarly evocative time-lapse city shorts. I admit to not knowing that much about the spread of time-lapse photography as a technique, but I do know that it registers experiential variation through time very well. Also, that I like it.

While many feature ubiquitous scenes of automobile traffic and other signifers of urban bustle, there are elements of architecture, urban design and geography in each that impart an elusive sense of place: quality of light, commonly used materials, shared spaces, representations of climate. Here are just a few:

Cities in motion, from top to bottom: Vancouver; Tokyo; London; Los Angeles (mostly); Chicago; Toronto (also here); Montreal; Buenos Aires; Vienna; The Hague; Seattle. If you know others (and there are many more), send 'em my way.

You'll notice I've only chosen videos that are paired with music, mainly because it's interesting to consider what accompaniment a place ought to have. The results of these pairings are debatable, which you probably also noticed.

(Insert obligatory Koyaanisqatsi reference here. Also, earlier.)

Comments

[Brendan]

These are fun...the Buenos Aires one is my absolute favorite, even if it is a bit grainy. That took some vision!