Every iPhoneur (the post-post-modern flaneur) operates in a state of flow when they are perambulating around the city with their camera poised: walking, observing, discerning. Every picture (“capture” in the iPhoneur’s lingo) represents a unique, timeless and irreproducible moment of truth. Each pathway to that enlightened photo is unique…..
Is it?
As much as I would like to think so, I have bumped into (literally) many photographers on the same unique visual journey as me.
Well, maybe the photo is unique but the trip is not. Eric Fischer used Flickr geotags and strings of PERL programming to produce a beguiling set of minimalist maps that turn Flickr geotags into vectors that map out where people walk around, photographing. Called the The Geotaggers’ World Atlas, the series of maps in ultrafine red and black lines show where people are snapping pictures in major cities. Toronto is mapped.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/sets/72157623971287575/
The maps are not interactive, yet, but they are nonetheless remarkable visualizations of human photographing behaviour.
And if you are a flickerite who geotags their photos, then you helped create this map.