Two panoramic black-and-white photos show the same city square decades apart, with a park in the center, surrounding streets, historic buildings, trees, and people visible in both images; the top scene appears much older.Morristown, NJ, in 1910, top, and as it looks today on the same camera, bottom.

Two New Jersey photographers have paid homage to their hometown by going to great lengths to recreate a historic photo using the same rotating panoramic camera the original photographers used all the way back in 1910.

Christian Fiedler and Marshall Roshto tell PetaPixel they like to take on creative projects together and after seeing the original photo of Morristown Green plastered around town, the pair decided to research it and eventually recreate it.

Cirkut Cameras

The original photo is credited to the Parker Brothers, who ran a sophisticated studio in Morristown from 1898 through to the 1940s. It shows a 180-degree view of the town’s newly-completed central square in stunning detail.

Historic black-and-white photo of a city street with horse-drawn carriages, early automobiles, and people walking on sidewalks near multi-story brick buildings and storefronts. Leafless trees line the street.Zoom in and the 1910 panoramic offers a fascinating glimpse of life during the Progressive Era. A black-and-white photo of an early 20th-century city street shows a horse-drawn carriage and an old-fashioned car parked in front of storefronts with awnings and signs. Leafless trees line the sidewalk.Here, a telegraph and cable office stands next to a cigar shop, dentist, and a pool hall on South Street as a horse and cart waits next to a Ford Model T, the motorcar was about to supplant the original horsepower.

Black-and-white photo of a street scene with horse-drawn carriages, people walking, and some blurred motion. Utility poles, shadows, and trees are visible along the wide dirt road. The setting appears to be from the early 1900s.

A black-and-white panoramic photo of an old town square with leafless trees, surrounding buildings, horse-drawn carriages, and people walking along wide streets. A church steeple is visible on the right.The Parker Brothers

Fiedler and Roshto tracked down the original contact print at their local library’s North Jersey History Center and verified that the original negative was several feet wide and eight inches tall.

“The only camera capable of creating an image like this at that time was a Cirkut No.8,” Fiedler says.

“Marshall and I then put our heads together to figure out how we could recreate the 1910 panorama. We considered stitching several large-format images together, but this was less than ideal since there would be a bit of distortion when stitching standard photos together along a curved scene.

“We also considered swing-lens cameras like the Horizon or vintage Panoram cameras, but the original perspective required something that could capture more than 180 degrees. Eventually we landed on procuring a Cirkut camera just like the original.”

A person examines an antique bellows camera on a table using a flashlight. The table is cluttered with vintage camera cases and other equipment, and cardboard boxes are visible in the background.Marshall and Roshto had to engineer a working Cirkut camera.

Cirkut cameras are not only very niche but also very difficult to get hold of. The duo bought several non-functional models from eBay. Luckily, Roshto is an engineer by trade and he was able to get them working. Cirkut cameras are completely mechanical and work like old clocks with wind-up motors, gears, and a speed governor.

“Marshall was able to disassemble, clean, and tune until we had a really smooth panning Cirkut camera,” says Fiedler.

A hand holds a metal plate with several interlocking brass gears and rods, possibly part of a clock or mechanical device, against a background with a patterned rug and leather bags.Deconstructed gear plate. A close-up side view of intricate clockwork gears and mechanisms on a green cutting mat, with pliers, cotton swabs, and a wooden stick visible in the background.Repaired and cleaned internals.

A working rotating camera is one thing, but what about procuring the seven-foot-long film?

“The film is long out of production,” explains Fiedler. “Kodak used to make spools regularly, and Ilford will occasionally do an ultra large-format custom run, but we had access to neither.”

Fiedler spoke to online Cirkut expert Skyy, who makes custom rolls and sold Fiedler and Roshto a few of them.

A man stands outdoors on a patio holding a long, rectangular black-and-white panoramic photograph, smiling at the camera. Trees, grass, and a white fence are visible in the background under a cloudy sky.Marshall Roshto holds up one of the massive test negatives.

“For development, we cloned Drew Tanner’s setup, which was large but worked well,” says Fiedler.

“This was our first time doing darkroom work, but if you’re going to get into home development, this seemed like a heck of a debut.”

A bathroom with white cabinets and marble floor, a round mirror above the sink, cleaning supplies on the counter, and a folding table set up over the toilet. The shower area has a glass door and white tiled walls.Turning a bathroom into a darkroom.

Plenty has changed in Morristown in the intervening century, including the balcony the Parker Brothers used to shoot the original photo on. Fiedler and Roshto applied for a permit to erect a scaffold on the sidewalk to match the 1910 perspective.

Four people work with scaffolding outside a brick building labeled "AGRICOLA." Two are on the scaffold adjusting a sign, while two others stand on the sidewalk observing. Holiday wreaths decorate the entrance.Setting up the scaffold.

Two men stand on a scaffolding, adjusting an old-fashioned box camera mounted on a tripod outside a building. One is wearing a white beanie and dark jacket; the other is in a long brown coat.

A wide, black-and-white panoramic view of a city intersection with trees, pedestrians, cars, and several multi-story buildings lining the streets. The sky is clear, and leafless branches frame the scene.Christian Fiedler and Marshall Roshto
A black-and-white panoramic photo of an old town square with leafless trees, surrounding buildings, horse-drawn carriages, and people walking along wide streets. A church steeple is visible on the right.The Parker Brothers

Their work has been received positively and the local library, where the pair first saw the original photo, now proudly displays their image side-by-side for comparison. It’s culminated in a show called Morristown: In Focus that visitors will be able to see through the spring.

Check out Primitive Pines for prints and to see high-res versions.

Update 3/6: Updated with link and typo correction.

Image credits: Photographs by Christian Fiedler and Marshall Roshto.