APRIL 1957 – Gran Via 53-55 in Madrid, Spain. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
This is a beautiful black and white print from 1957 showing the prestigious Gran Via 53-55 in Madrid on a busy day. Several observations are noteworthy in my opinion:
- A double decker bus of line 1 shows a large ad for OMO soap and detergent
- Two black Mercedes Benz sedans underline the ‘High Street’ character
- An Air France office on the left, possibly by a travel agent under exclusive license to the airline
- A shop ‘Femme’, most likely a fashion store
- A shop ‘Nieves’, most likely a hairdresser or beauty salon
At the time of writing, I compared the image with 2015 Google Streetview images which were the most recent images available. The shops have changed over time which is not a big surprise. But the overall structure has remained intact. The curb is much larger than in 1957 and gives a lot of room to the Nebraska café. I should rather write ‘gave a lot of room’ though, because the Nebraska was replaced in July 2019 by another restaurant – McDonald’s. (The interior still looks great, by the way.)
Anyway, I think it is awesome to see such a decent quality of a consumer black and white print that is 68 years old.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | April 1957 |
| Location | Madrid, Spain |
| Image Source | 7 x 10 cm Print |
| Digital Image Source | EPSON Perfection 4870 Photo |
| Digital Image Source Format | TIFF, 48 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 4544 x 3105 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
Zanzig.com Photo Hub 