Why Bother Taking Pictures Anymore When There Is Google Street View?

In current issue of Harper's there is a wonderful little feature on Jon Rafman's collection of Google Street View images. This is brilliant (buy the book). We all use street view to scout locations and this and that, but Rafman takes it to the next level. This is such a wonderful portrayal of America in so many ways. Not only does it comment on what the the notion of the once romantic great American road trip has been reduced to, but also touches upon on our dependance of the internet, what the internet allows us to see and perhaps the things that many Americans dont see because they are boxed in and removed from society within the confines of their automobile, and not to mention, either too busy texting while they drive or focused on their stupid little GPS navigation devices to see what is right out the window. I cant help but think, why bother picking up a camera anymore when nearly every street and corner in America and soon, I imagine, the rest of the world will exist in the greatest document of 21st Century American society...Google. Oh, the internet.


Some of my favorites....