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Scenes and sightings from Smithsonian museums and beyond


August 29, 2012 7:38 am

Amazing Shots Captured by Google Street View

Artist John Rafman scours Google Street View for incredible shots. Image: John Rafman

From allegedly cheating husbands, to drug deals in action, to embarrassing moments, Google Street View has captured some interesting snapshots of human life. Artist Jon Rafman, has made it his goal to scour the Earth and compile those fascinating images. This list of 30, seen at Demilked, is full of truly amazing shots. And there are more at is his website.

You can see everything from a tiger wandering about a parking lot:

To a seemingly escaped prisoner:

To a street gang stopping cars on the road:

To a child hiding behind a garbage pail:

To a reindeer fleeing the oncoming car:

Rafman calls his project 9-eyes, after the nine cameras that each Google Streetview car has mounted on top. He has blurred out the faces of people who appear in the photographs. (Street View has been caught in a debate about privacy since it launched.) The images show people of all walks of life, doing all sorts of things — some mundane, others extreme. From a group of young men lined up against a wall by the police, to prostitutes waiting on corners, to small children wielding guns. This is the world we live in, as seen by a car simply driving by.

Update: If it seemed unlikely that a tiger would be wandering around a parking lot…well, it is. Alas, that tiger is not a live tiger but, as a crisper shot reveals, one made of fiberglass.)

More from Smithsonian.com:

Google Street View Trike: Nominate the National Mall

National Mall, a Finalist for a Google Trike Visit



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6 Comments »

  1. I noticed a spelling error toward the end. “Children welding guns”…needs to be wielding.

    Comment by Alyson — August 29, 2012 @ 10:14 am


  2. Thanks! Fixed.

    Comment by Sarah Laskow — August 29, 2012 @ 10:39 am


  3. As a former employee of Smithsonian Magazine and now an employee of Google, I’m glad to see these two worlds merge. The intersection of technology with arts & culture is one of the most exciting segments of our modern world and I’m glad to see Smithsonian covering it! Well done!

    Comment by Joel — August 29, 2012 @ 11:59 am


  4. A fiberglass tiger is still a fairly random thing to see in a parking lot!

    Comment by Nikola — August 30, 2012 @ 1:21 pm


  5. I have to agree with Nikola….

    Comment by dave — September 1, 2012 @ 10:42 pm


  6. While I do like all these, is there any proof those people in masks are a gang stopping cars? It’s not uncommon for people who know the google van is coming to dress up and what not. And unless there’s other photo’s that a pretty big leap of a statement to make.

    Comment by beth — September 16, 2012 @ 1:26 pm


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