One day, out of curiosity, Clement Valla decided to explore what Google Earth could do. As he started playing with the program, he came upon views he knew he had to share. Bridges that were suppose to look like they were in 3D, were stunningly flattened out in 2D. Because the satellite imagery used in Google Earth is captured in 2D, bridges appeared shockingly warped, like a surreal painting or a dramatic scene from the movie Inception.
Valla called the 60 photo series Postcards from Google Earth, Bridges. “I like to maintain a critical distance to these kinds of representations, trying to understand how they affect the way in which we see and interpret the world, the way in which they affect other visual representations, and might one day replace other modes of exploring the planet,” he tells us. “This is why I call the images I find Post-Cards. They reflect another era, another mode of exploration, discovery and memory, another process of image creation and distribution.”
By collecting these photos and sharing this series, Valla hopes that we will question the technologies we use to create images and representations of our earth. “I hope people take just a moment to think about how we can see things differently through technology, and what that could imply,” he says.
