Man discovers grandfather's vintage travel photos, embarks on adventure to recreate them

WINCHESTER BAY, Oregon -- Call it a trip through time that began 30 years ago on the southern Oregon coast.

“Winchester Bay - since we promised ourselves at least one good seafood dinner, we went in and had one at the "Grotto" — clam chowder, salmon, baked potato, home baked bread, butter, and sour cream chives - delicious!! And so much so, we had to go for a walk around the docks with boats of all sizes."
 

Those were the words Christian Carollo’s grandmother wrote in her travel journal in June of 1981.

The Philadelphia photographer would read those words 30 years later after uncovering a photo from that day snapped by his grandfather.

By random happenstance, Carollo was planning a trip to that very spot in a week’s time. He made a decision. He would sort through the treasure trove of travel photos left by his grandfather and try to recreate them through his own travels.

And thus, the Past Present Project was born.
 

Over the past three years Carollo has successfully recreated dozens of his grandfather’s marvelous photos from the 1970s and 80s.
 

The photos have taken Carollo up and down the West Coast, through the Upper-Midwest and deep into the South.
 

Some of the photos feature landmarks virtually unchanged in three decades.
 

Other photos show the changes time has wrought.
 

As for Carollo himself, he writes on his website documenting the journey that it began by chance and has come to help determine his next destination.
 

“Since I largely have my grandfather to thank for my love of travel and photography, I wanted to honor his memory by replicating the photographs he took from his trips all across America,” wrote Carollo. “This is my Past Present to him!”