Google Street View

Google Street View is the result of thousands of hours from Google Employees driving around public roads in hybrid cars on over Seven Continents.  The goal is to photograph every public road to help enhance Google Maps.

To do this Google has used a special piece of equipment that consists of a pole with nine camera lenses.  Add in super fancy GPS and laser range scanners and you have one unstoppable force backed by one of the biggest companies in the world.

What started as a simple enough concept, to photograph every public street in the world, has actually turned into a very interesting collection of photographs that most likely would never have been cataloged.   Anyone can take a picture, these days every phone, blackberry and watch come with one whether you want it or not. 

But there is a difference between someone holding up a device to take your picture and a car just driving around endlessly snapping photos of whatever it sees.  In the second scenario, the result is much more raw.  In a way it’s more like holding a mirror up to society as a whole and it allows us to see how we really are when we think no one is looking.

There are many collections of Google Street View photos, but Jon Rafman I think best puts it all together.

Check out some of the photo’s here…

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