Nine Eyes of Google Street View: Art in the Post-Internet Age
I have always found a very special kind of beauty in street photography. While they certainly may be beautiful or impressive in their own right, a lot of photography is often very posed and staged. Which tends to ring a little hollow, when you take in consideration all the filters and minor photo-editing touches that have been applied to it postmortem. Knowing that there are likely dozens or even hundreds of other photos just like it that have been have been discarded, in the wake of searching for the "perfect" shot.
Which is why I have so much appreciation for street photography. A single candid moment, captured in an instant -- where the subject is not forced to smile or pose for the camera. The subject may not even have any knowledge that they were being photographed. Just an authentic moment, captured in time.
But what if these shots were automated? A piece of art, without an author. This is what is explored in the Nine Eyes of Google Street view by Jon Rafman.
The Nine Eyes of Google Street View is a collection of screenshots, started in 2008, gathered from Google's automated cameras. Driven by a car outfitted with 9 cameras, Google was able to capture a series of panoramic images. (Rafman, 2008) With this technology, Google allowed it's users to virtually walk around the streets of various locations around the world.
Of course, due to this automated process, these cameras were often able to capture much more than just empty roads. Often capturing unusual art and architecture, both large...
...and small.
As well as the beauty in the natural world, be it through the landscape, or animals:
People are most often the centerpiece. Whether they be moments of humor...
...violence and peril...
...Or the truly unusual.
These small moments feel almost like a glimpse into another person's life, or an entirely different world. They may not always be the most photogenic, but it feels much more realistic and authentic. Without any fancy filters or intentional framing, the images feel much more like the sort of thing you might be able to see with your own eyes.
There is a voyeur quality to it, where you feel like you are getting a secret glimpse into someone else's life. You can imagine yourself in the moment, and immerse yourself in these stranger's stories.
While the surveillance aspect is slightly concerning -- I do appreciate how most of the figures captured by the camera are anonymized. Not only to ease the ethical concerns of taking and publishing photographs of people without them noticing. But also because the lack of faces, ironically, allow for even more imagination.
Without their faces, these people could be almost anybody. You can imagine them as people you might know, or characters with their own unique story happening off-screen.
Navigating through these virtual landscapes gives us a gateway into another world. One that has not been carefully-curated through photo-editing or a photographer's eye. Which makes the rare moments of naturally-occurring artistry feel all the more beautiful.
Citations:
Rafman, J. Nine Eyes of Google Street View. (2008)
Available at: https://anthology.rhizome.org/9-eyes
Image Citations:
https://9-eyes.com/
