How to Photograph the Entire World: The Google Street View Era
Doug Rickard, Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, 2008The drum machine arrived in popular music in the late 1970’s. By 1983, only a few years later, after 50,000 years of live human drumming, mainstream audiences had fully embraced this sound in hits like “Rockit.” Just as remarkable, Herbie Hancock was able to pioneer both acoustic jazz and a song created with electronic drums.
A similar shift is happening in photography. Looking at projects based on Google Maps Street View (GSV), particularly large photographs in physical galleries, makes me wonder: Is Street View a camera? Or a repository of source images? Or both?
Owl by struckdumb
the veiled eiffel tower from the palais de chaillot, paris, 1944
photo by lee miller
This is a shot from Google Street View. Check out more shots that look like fine art photography but are from street view here.
Bruges by Sally Gall
Mist Rising at Sunset
