All the People on Google Earth
2011

Thus Google Earth's allure derives not only from its capacity for high-resolution ... but also from high-dissolution.
--Paul Kingsbury and John Paul Jones III, "Walter Benjamin's Dionysian Adventures on Google Earth"

blurry people cut out from Google Earth against a white backdrop

All the People on Google Earth is a series of modified snapshots of crowds found on Google Earth, with everything but the people (and their attendant blankets, umbrellas, dogs, etc.) removed. The angle reveals each person's shadow, which is often the only thing that identifies a particular shape as a person at all. Occasionally we may see a leg thrust out in the act of walking; there are suggestions of tennis-playing movements. In All the People in Dolores Park, the only sign of order is the bathroom line in the middle of the park. Otherwise the people exist on the very limit of the recognizable, dissolved into pixels.

All the People on Google Earth has been exhibited at Intersection for the Arts and apexart. Click any image for a larger version.

All the People in Dolores Park

blurry people cut out from Google Earth against a white backdrop; the general shape of the crowd suggests the shape of Dolores Park in San Francisco, with a dense area in the lower left corner

All the People in on Pier 39

blurry people cut out from Google Earth against a white backdrop; the general shape of the crowd suggests the shape Pier 39 in San Francisco, with more people on the west side probably because they're looking at the Golden Gate Bridge

All the People on Baker Beach

blurry people cut out from Google Earth against a white backdrop; the general shape of the crowd reflects the shape of the beach and almost looks like wave itself