Old paintings, pictures and photographs create a record of how places used to look. When looking at pictures or paintings you need to think about why they were being painted. Sometimes artists change details in their pictures to make them look better. This is called “artistic license”. Aberdeen Museums and Art Galleries have some paintings that might show Aberdeen as it used to be.  
From 1850 photographs became a popular way of showing what towns and cities looked like. There was a world famous photographer in Scotland called George Washington Wilson who took photographs all over Britain between 1850 and 1893,including many in Aberdeen. Old photos can be found in the gallery. To see more old pictures click here.  
The first film units in Scotland appeared in the 1890s. Walker's Royal Cinematograph of Aberdeen made local films in the north east between 1897 and 1911 but only 2 of these survive. Some shops sell DVDs of these films.