THEN AND NOW: These photos show Paris in the 1900s - and the same scenes today

A new photo book containing 80 images of modern Parisian streets overlaid with vintage photographs reveals what the French capital was like over 100 years ago.

The French art director Julien Knez - who we first read about on IB Times UK - spent last summer wandering Paris, holding up monochrome photos in front of the camera when capturing the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe, iconic streets like Place Vendôme, and the famous department store Printemps.

Knez worked with photos that he found from between 1871 and 1968, bringing key moments from Paris' history - such as the great flood of 1910 and Hitler's visit to the city in 1940 - into its present.

The photographer was approached by the publishing house Parigramme to work on the book, "Paris, Fenêtres Sur l'Histoire," after he completed a similar photography project commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Liberation of Paris.

"The overlay of historical photos on contemporary views opened amazing windows to the past," Knez wrote on his website. "Thus, the event that did not necessarily leave physical evidence, recovers a genuine existence and the city today is seen literally inhabited by its history."