Well Traveled, 2015 (35mm slides and projector)

In this project, I took screenshots on my computer and iPhone from within Google Maps, Google Street-view, and Apple Maps. None of the images are altered or manipulated in any way. I've always been fascinated by chance in photography and to me this method is the most unpredictable way to photograph or re-photograph the world. This method lets me escape my habits of photographing similar scenes, locations, and subjects, and allows me to be surprised at what and where I decide to capture.

Google and Apple’s task is so herculean - photographing the entire planet - of course they’re full of glitches, distortion, and inconsistency, but these are the things I find most interesting. You can also find the opposite qualities: incredible detail, interesting vantage points, amazing subjects, and a pleasing order of form. Even the things that are left out because of errors and censorship become a part of the imagery or visual language.

I chose to use a mechanical slide projector in exhibiting this work because it evokes the way people used to share their travel photography with friends and family after returning home. I wanted to contrast retro and modern, analog and digital, the traditional ways of traveling with the current modes we use to explore the smaller and more globalized world. The slide projector creates a tension between digital images and a very analog process. It’s the victor and the vanquished working together in an unexpected and unnatural way.