Newhaven: That was then, this is now

Schoolchildren from Victoria Primary School in Newhaven have recreated scenes from historical photographs selected from our collections. The children's pictures show students and members of the local community dressed in traditional Newhaven costume and posed to mirror the portraits from the early days of photography. Compare Hill and Adamson's sepia photographs from over 150 years ago with their colourful digital opposites.

One group portrait captures Davy Brand on his fishing boat with four boys from the school, recalling the Hill and Adamson image of the fisherman leaning on his boat, with a group of fisher laddies at his feet. The new image is not only a great picture, but already a visual record of the end of a fishing era for Newhaven: Brand is the last fisherman left to work out of Newhaven harbour.

Another picture from 1924 shows George Hackland as a young boy with his family mending nets beside Newhaven Harbour. The students have reconstructed this scene, only this time, George stands in his grandfather's place.