SOME ideas are so simple yet so brilliant that you wonder why you never thought of them before.

Katie Gordon announced her new membership of The Press Camera Club by posting four superb images on its Facebook page.

She got hold of four historical photos - of York railway station; Station Road; Shambles; and Castle Howard - then took them out to the places they showed, held them up, and snapped the same scene today, aligning the old photo so it blended into the present day scene.

The result is both unsettling and intriguing - like taking a modern, familiar scene then opening up a window into the past in the middle of it.

"York and surrounds past and present," she wrote on Facebook. "Shots of historic photographs in situ today. Beautiful then and beautiful now!"

The images caused a sensation when Katie posted them on the camera club's Facebook page.

"Great pics, great idea!" posted Katie's fellow camera club member Dawn Richmond.

"These are smashing Katie," added Michelle Atkins. "I bet you've set everyone off looking for old photos..."

We agree with Katie's fellow camera club members. It would have been easy to take modern pictures of the scenes shown in the old photographs, then mash old and new together in photoshop.

But Katie didn't do that: she actually went out to the scenes pictured, held her old photographs up, aligned them, then took her own photo.

The result has an authenticity and magic you just couldn't get using photoshop. You can even see Katie's hand, which adds to the effect.

Well done Katie. As Michelle said, we suspect you may have started a new trend...

Stephen Lewis

BLOB The Press Camera Club now has more than 600 members, who are constantly out and about taking photographs and sharing them on the club's Facebook page. We regularly feature members photographs in The Press (including one each day on the letters page) and there's also a monthly competition. Membership is free. So if you're a keen photographer, why not join today? Simply visit Facebook, search for Press Camera Club, sign up, and you're away...