Amazing aerial photos show how the face of Portsmouth has changed in 60 years Â

By Dina Grinevica Â
Pictures from Chris BrunnenPictures from Chris Brunnen
Pictures from Chris Brunnen

A NEW book has laid bare how Portsmouth has changed in the last few decades.

And the area's changing face has been documented by two men who  have a relationship that itself spans the years. 

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Chris Brunnen's book Portsmouth; an Aerial Tour Through Time, features aerial shots of Portsmouth over 60 years, taken from a helicopter.

Pictures from Chris BrunnenPictures from Chris Brunnen
Pictures from Chris Brunnen

To see more of Chris' pictures click on the link at the top of the article.

Jim Bramble, 91, and Chris, 57, both from Portsmouth, met in 1975 when Jim was a teacher at City of Portsmouth Boys' School (now Trafalgar School).

Chris was a student in Jim's technical drawing class and he got interested in photography by being involved in the art department activities.

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Speaking of how he took his first aerial shot, Jim said: '˜I remember taking it in 1949 of a building on fire at Fareham.

'˜After that time, I always had a camera with me and that's how I got started.'

Chris was interested in photography from a young age and took his first aerial shot in 1987.

When Chris was building his photography website many years ago, he was looking for features to include and came across Jim's aerial pictures.

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He said: '˜They were taken 40 years ago and then I realised - I had a shot just like that. It was interesting to compare the difference of shots taken of the same place in 60s versus now.' A few years ago, Chris asked Jim if he could use some of his old pictures for his book and Jim provided a disc of negatives from 50s and 60s.

Chris said the main difference in photography between then and now is the resolution, the detail used to be excellent back in the day, whereas now it has only been getting better in the recent years.

'˜Getting into photography itself is quite easy, you don't need to have an expensive camera as even phone camera can do the job just fine.

'˜What makes a good photograph is a good photographer, not a good camera.'

To find out more about Chris's book, visit www.cjbphotography.co.uk/

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