Disconcerting Street View Screencaps of Scenes Google’s Cameras Were Never Meant to Capture

By Tom Hawking

March 28, 2014

Google Street View has proven to be a rich source of material for artists since it was introduced in 2007 — there have been a variety of fascinating Street View-based projects, from a journey into post-earthquake Fukushima to mind-bending digital art. (There’s Street View-centric music, too.) Still, artist Jon Rafman has raised the bar with his 9 Eyes project, a series of hugely disconcerting screenshots that capture things Google’s cameras definitely weren’t meant to see. Our friends at ANIMAL New York, where we spotted Rafman’s work, describe him as “the Tarkovsky of Google Street View art,” a label that seems pretty much spot on. (Also, if Rafman’s name sounds familiar, it might be because he directed the terrifying video for Oneohtrix Point Never’s “Still Life (Betamale).”) Click through for some of the best images from the project, and visit Rafman’s website for heaps more.

Photo credit: Jon Rafman