30 Shocking and Unexpected Google Street View Photos

by Tom on Aug 27, 2012 • 1:01 pm 145 Comments

Canadian artist Jon Rafman is an unusual photographer – he explores Google Street Views and takes screenshots of the most incredible sights here. From a toddler left on street to a tiger roaming near a convenience store – “with its supposedly neutral gaze, the Street View photography had a spontaneous quality unspoiled by the sensitivities or agendas of a human photographer,” says Jon.

The original pictures were actually shot by an army of Google’s hybrid electric automobiles, each equipped with 9 cameras on a single pole. That’s why Jon calls his project “The Nine Eyes of Google Street View.”

Website: 9-eyes.com

What do you think?

http://www.facebook.com/shutupandance David Matos via Facebook

brilliant : )
Katie Bellanger via Facebook

This is unreal!
Henning Kurth via Facebook

Wieder mal überraschend… erschreckend… aber fast schon wieder der ganz normale Wahnsinn …
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jcomeauictx John Comeau

weird and beautiful, thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/dianequantic Diane Dufva Quantic

I wonder. Do the Google drivers, other humans in the cars try to avert some of the disasters they photographed??
http://www.facebook.com/people/James-Eichelberger/529202600 James Eichelberger

Star ship directive or some such Google law. I’m sure it will all work out in the end. The tiger, for example, went on to be a spokes-model for a cereal chain. Those toddlers with guns? They went on to be TSA agents. That seagull? I think they wrote a book about him in the 70′s. Time traveling seagull named Jonathon with a penchant for Chinese take out. And Anne Elke? Well, we all know she became popular as a dinosaur expert.
http://www.facebook.com/people/James-Eichelberger/529202600 James Eichelberger

Star ship directive or some such Google law. I’m sure it will all work out in the end. The tiger, for example, went on to be a spokes-model for a cereal chain. Those toddlers with guns? They went on to be TSA agents. That seagull? I think they wrote a book about him in the 70′s. Time traveling seagull named Jonathon with a penchant for Chinese take out. And Anne Elke? Well, we all know she became popular as a dinosaur expert.
http://www.facebook.com/people/James-Eichelberger/529202600 James Eichelberger

Star ship directive or some such Google law. I’m sure it will all work out in the end. The tiger, for example, went on to be a spokes-model for a cereal chain. Those toddlers with guns? They went on to be TSA agents. That seagull? I think they wrote a book about him in the 70′s. Time traveling seagull named Jonathon with a penchant for Chinese take out. And Anne Elke? Well, we all know she became popular as a dinosaur expert.
http://twitter.com/toygunhitman joiless Oubliette

Not sure if I would hang around to finish photographing if I noticed that cat cruising in my direction with a handgun. I’ve seen a Google streetview car and it didn’t look particularly bullet-resistant to me.
http://twitter.com/gabesturdevant gabe sturdevant

So taking screen shots makes you a photographer now?
Anonymous

My sentiments exactly
http://www.facebook.com/kandykittylove Jessica Edwards

It scares the shit out of me that Google has all these cameras everywhere. Don’t fuck up, Google can see! Can they hear too?
Anonymous

no……why would they. would you try and stop a guy w/a gun? or a tiger walking across a parking lot? get real, & stop asking stupid questions.
Anonymous

they hear you…….they don’t like you……
http://www.facebook.com/autumn.armstrongberg Autumn Armstrong-Berg

What about the toddler?
Buck Bokai

Probably already a photographer and this is just a funny side hobby, or referred to as a photographer by the writer of the article because it’s easier to understand.
Buck Bokai

Probably already a photographer and this is just a funny side hobby, or referred to as a photographer by the writer of the article because it’s easier to understand.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Doobie-Brothers/100002826439134 Doobie Brothers

Life on planet Earth.
Jaime Birren

I actually recognized two of those! The one of the Paulina Market is in Chicago near Hermitage Ave (I’ve shopped there), and I’m 98% sure the one of the tiger is actually in Boulder, CO – it’s a statue that a store there puts out. Freaks me out whenever I see it, because they leave it in unexpected places like that.
redman2112

Google Street View: reaffirming my desire to NOT visit any part of the 3rd world
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1056973688 Alice Gray Marks

One consistently doesn’t load for me, the one before the dog going through the gate. (Hope he made it through.) Horse, very sad picture.
http://www.facebook.com/andrew.vanmeter.33 Andrew VanMeter

Pretty sure James was being tongue-in-cheek here, Munch. As you point out, they’re clearly toy guns.
And Diane: it’s not Google’s responsibility to help avert disasters. They aren’t superheroes… yet.
Shawn

Where can I find that cute black hooker?
Shawn

Where can I find that cute black hooker?
Shawn

Where can I find that cute black hooker?
M

A dollar short and a day late – Michael Wolf won an honorable mention world press prize for this exact project.
M

A dollar short and a day late – Michael Wolf won an honorable mention world press prize for this exact project.
M

A dollar short and a day late – Michael Wolf won an honorable mention world press prize for this exact project.
Liz in Seattle

That didn’t work for the kid behind the trash can . . . .
Liz in Seattle

That didn’t work for the kid behind the trash can . . . .
Liz in Seattle

That didn’t work for the kid behind the trash can . . . .
http://www.facebook.com/garycameron Gary Cameron

I love both the sense of humor and marketing tactic with the tiger. Thank-you for sharing.
http://www.facebook.com/garycameron Gary Cameron

I love both the sense of humor and marketing tactic with the tiger. Thank-you for sharing.
http://www.facebook.com/garycameron Gary Cameron

I love both the sense of humor and marketing tactic with the tiger. Thank-you for sharing.
david robbins

so leaving snarky comments makes you an idiot now?
http://www.facebook.com/Rachel.LOVES.Geoffrey Rachel Sommerville

I think these were photoshopped and added the little google navigator up in the corner etc… Some of the people are look right at the camera and posing (cosume people). Thats what I think!
fdschin

hey, its not a dog trying to slip through that gate! its a fox … what do you guess: how many of these images are faked?
Anonymous

Have you ever seen the Google Street View vehicle? It’s completely bizarre compared to other vehicles – especially if you’re a kid who lives in some rural backwater and is having a good time with your buddies by wearing masks and goofing off. Even I’D gawk if I saw one, and I’ve seen one before!
Anonymous

Nice python reference there..
http://twitter.com/Killahbunny Aqilla

That statement makes it sound like your screen name should be “redneck man”.
http://twitter.com/crenelletech MichaelBrianBentley

I knew that had to be Chicago because of the RedEye newspaper box.
Nonny

It’s possible to find out where and when the Google SV van will be; sometimes people set up deliberately odd scenes for the cameras to capture. I think it’s great. Lol.
Nonny

It’s possible to find out where and when the Google SV van will be; sometimes people set up deliberately odd scenes for the cameras to capture. I think it’s great. Lol.
Ex-GoogleMapper

You can also request to have any picture of yourself removed from google maps and they do it almost immediately.
Ex-GoogleMapper

You can also request to have any picture of yourself removed from google maps and they do it almost immediately.
Anonymous

Guns don’t kill people – toddlers do.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Lorna-Catherine-Thomas/690014743 Lorna Catherine Thomas

Ha, the seagull is right outside the entrance to Brighton Police Station in Brighton, England. My mate works in that building, lol.
http://www.jdanny.com/ Joseph Daniel

Was actually just about to comment on this too. Awesome photos and project, but don’t call yourself the photographer if you didn’t snap the photos.
http://www.facebook.com/megan.labadie Megan Labadie

I recognized the Chicago photo, too! I used to live up the street from there. It was so neat to recognize some of these places.
http://twitter.com/mikegracen Mike Gracen

Came for tiger. Was not disappoint.
http://www.facebook.com/megan.labadie Megan Labadie

I remember the first time I saw one, I sat there staring at it like it was something out of Back to the Future. There was a homeless man walking across the street and he stopped in the middle of the intersection, gave the vehicle an angry look and pointedly started yelling at it. I crack up every time that memory pops up.
http://www.facebook.com/megan.labadie Megan Labadie

I immediately wasn’t worried about the toddler because I imagine the parent is either nearby or just out of view. Kids need room to run around and can’t constantly be attached to the hip of a parent. If the toddler was laying on the ground and looked distressed, I would have worried then.
http://twitter.com/BadChapters Bad Chapters

Um dude… he screen capped them.
http://twitter.com/BadChapters Bad Chapters

People see the car, run inside, grab masks, then race to get in front of the car to do weird things. There are whole blogs about it.
http://twitter.com/BadChapters Bad Chapters

By the street sign idiot!
http://twitter.com/BadChapters Bad Chapters

By the street sign idiot!
http://twitter.com/BadChapters Bad Chapters

Google is slowly mapping the smaller countries. Their rigs aren’t all that complex, they just hire the drivers and give them a route.
http://www.jdanny.com/ Joseph Daniel

Um, dude, so I’ll just go ahead and screen cap those screen caps. We’ll see who the real artist is!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1226764495 Brett Graves

I recognize the hooker…. Its your mom.
Mike

Hmmm….interesting content, however, have you validated these are actually true images from Google Street View? I do not see direct links to the images in Google Maps which leads me to believe that many could be false…
Soulshiver

What does the street view vehicle look like?
Tessa

When you take a photo of something you are merely saying ‘I have discovered this, and I recognise it as art’. Isn’t this the same thing? Not everybody can go through hundreds of hours of street view and edit together a selection like this – that’s quite ‘artistic’ I think.
Tessa

That isn’t specifically a reply to you Joseph, I just don’t know how to change the parent on this.
http://www.jdanny.com/ Joseph Daniel

That’s EXACTLY my point. Jon Rafman is an artist here, and not a photographer, but in the above description it uses both titles simultaneously. There’s a huge difference here. Sure, I could fly to Europe and photograph the Mona Lisa and claim it as art simply because I did the footwork, but you know, as well as I, that’s total bullshit. Also, there are legal limitations to what we can call “art.” As a photographer myself, someone else can’t photograph my photography and sell it. They’d be seeing me in court.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1565085833 Susette Horspool

It’s a dog. Foxes and coyotes have more pointed noses than that.
http://www.facebook.com/lawrence.eads Lawrence Eads

When the Google van came through our city, my son was in his driveway in the middle of doing a brake job on his car. They blurred out his face, but the shot is there for posterity.
Anonymous

Oh please, what’s the big deal?
Anonymous

You should take a course on Art History and specifically look at the Dadaist Movement and the stuff that followed. The conversation about what is art that this body of work brings up is so deep you can barely touch the surface of it in these comments. The majority of the art world will consider this art and classify the artist as a photographer.
http://www.facebook.com/karlhoze Karl Jon Holzapfel

Greatness`!
http://twitter.com/gabesturdevant gabe sturdevant

Ok, cool, I have “cliche” pics of cars and one of a dog. Thanks for pointing that out. I need to remember to not do that. I apologize. This has been done already though. Another artist won an award for doing this, not really conceptual.
maccyd53

Um, dudes, I just screen capped these comments and am putting them in a collage about political things and little children. I’ve already sold it to the Tate Gallery in London and my friend, who can draw pictures good, is impressed. Go figure, eh?
maccyd53

Um, dudes, I just screen capped these comments and am putting them in a collage about political things and little children. I’ve already sold it to the Tate Gallery in London and my friend, who can draw pictures good, is impressed. Go figure, eh?
maccyd53

See, you tried to change your parent, and now your only name is ”guest”. There’s a lesson here, I think.
maccyd53

See, you tried to change your parent, and now your only name is ”guest”. There’s a lesson here, I think.
maccyd53

I’m working on a project to replace those toys with real guns. We could use some help with funding…
maccyd53

Yeah…why would you try to stop a baby from crawling into the street? Come on,man, get a life and stop thinking about things…Jeez…
maccyd53

It could be a mouse in a dog costume. Unless you have x-ray vision, you can’t say for sure, eh? Or maybe six or seven mice standing on each others shoulders, that makes it even more likely.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004075088505 Andrew Cook

google it.
Billy Bud (Wayne) Erasmus

um dudes,… sherrie levine after walker evens? duh. super duper art–paula cooper what? oh thats in chelsea, like as in new york. follow the plan guys, this argument is about 100 years out of date. buy a f-ing art book and grow up, everybody else has.
http://www.facebook.com/steve.hubball Steve Hubball

Don’t get hung up on what it is Joseph, they’re ace.
Anonymous

what about the stain on the sidewalk? In context with baby it’s scary.
Ann Megyas

art….photography … is the ability to see the magic in a moment. Whether it’s in real time, or seeing that magic when reviewing video…i’m grateful for Rafman’s eye.
http://singingstring.org/ asongbird

wow.
omelight

Just to be clear, I believe these were shot by Google’s roaming photo car. No “art” was stolen. They are merely rote photos that have no real artistic authorship to begin with. Just as Andy Warhol portrayed and legitimized popular culture in art, Rafman here simply takes common shot and portrays them in a way that is compelling and beautiful.
omelight

Not the same, Joseph. Google is posting these out in the public domain for everyone to use like a newspaper. Probably the bigger question that should be asked is if Google received permission from each of the people it photographed to post them on-line.
Anonymous

Great pics
http://www.BuildIdaho.com Trey Langford

That was a fun post!
paytonblake

What he’s really doing is saying “hey look a these cool photos I
FOUND.” Finding art in photos other people took does not make you an
artist or the photographer. It’s not his art, it’s theft of another person’s work. It would be akin to taking a screenshot from a friend’s home videos and claiming it as your own art. It doesn’t matter if your friend didn’t mean it to be art, it’s still his/her work rather than your own.
Evan

No Horse masked guy in the purple sweater?
Garth KATNER

Gotta’ lone Lincoln Avenue!
http://www.facebook.com/ElizaRobertson Eliza K Robertson

moose. guns.swimming. guns. horse. guns.
aday

The pic of the guys in masks sorta freaked me out. They look sinister. Reminded me of the guys in mexico that cut peoples heads off. Anyone know where that pic was taken?
http://www.facebook.com/scott.unkefer Scott Unkefer

total bullshit on second to last. that’s boulder colorado my home town and a tiger walking down valmont street there? bulllllshitttttttt
Mels

And of course the one picture from Japan has a super sentai ranger…. asleep.
Chris Nyman Weller

My GUESS is Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, or Denmark… I’d like to know.
Chris Nyman Weller

Captivating. The ultimate candy for a voyeur…
Rina

Cool to know it’s actually a statue. Looks real.
Lucas

the photo with the police is searching the bandits of Brazil, and the next photo is also! and the butterfly photo too!
Lucas

I’m sorry, I can not speak English! I used the translator!
duckface

its a dog wearing a mask
Trashcan007

Yes, they are very cool, but that’s considered art? And that guy is called an artist by taking pictures he found on the internet and publishing them? I might have a different word for that.
http://www.facebook.com/bender.rodriguez.7927 Bender Rodriguez

Strawman.
http://www.facebook.com/bender.rodriguez.7927 Bender Rodriguez

100% agree. The only thing he did was the tedious task of pouring through the images. And he is limited to what the photo interval gives him.
http://www.facebook.com/bender.rodriguez.7927 Bender Rodriguez

You’re a condescending douche. But don’t be too hard on yourself; you’re in the majority.
http://www.facebook.com/bender.rodriguez.7927 Bender Rodriguez

What would the world do without Munch explaining the obvious to us?
http://www.facebook.com/bender.rodriguez.7927 Bender Rodriguez

It drove by my house when my mom was visiting and sitting outside. So there’s one of her in her car and then when it came back around we were both outside looking at it. It takes just a second of thought to realize that.
Ivy

really cool idea. I’m pretty sure the one with the all-in-white guy sitting on a chair is somewhere in Paris, and the one with the two kids pointing guns is Northern Ireland.
http://www.facebook.com/william.ash.7140 William Ash

it’s a dog anybody can see that
Suzie

Looks like a dog to me too. The shape of it looks more like a dog than a fox.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000089193272 Valerie Fanning-Burns

Does anyone know where the one of the two cars in front of the vehicle with the 4 masked people was taken? This one kind of freaks me out because the one is holding a rifle.
Fanof Brittany

You are absolutely right. This is in fact a house in Meneham, Finistere, hence Brittany/Bretagne. When I searched for explanations on internet some say that it was a coastguards house, others say that it was house for customs officers. There is another house built up along the same lines in Plougrescant, Cotes D’Armor, hence Brittany/Bretagne and this is definitely worth a visit, a very pretty place.
phil

great !!
Vivien

It’s very interesting, because all of these photos have a story behind them. The one with the boy in the yellow sweater hiding behind the dumpster was kind of heart breaking, he could’ve been a victim of domestic abuse, or was being chased. It’s all very cool
Dzo

type this “52.376552,5.198303″ into google maps, zoom in, waaaay in. What do you see?
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Wallen-II/100000420413545 Joe Wallen II

or he could have been playing hide and seek.
Habc

The picture just before the one of the dog going through the gate (It doesn’t look like a fox to me either, too heavy-boned and square-nosed) is a repeat of the first picture featured in the article, of the moose on the highway overlooking the water. Worth a repeat!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jennifer-Robertson/1047909162 Jennifer Robertson

It gets noticed, doesn’t it?
Mark Choi

Uh, no, it’s not.
Anonymous

Some of those are Epic – but I wish there were reference citations, I don’t need an exact google street address, but city/state/country would be nice. Thanks to those of you who shared some info re the locations
jz74

looks like a hyena to me
jz74

looks like a hyena to me
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=629607929 Bevin Blankenbuehler

I want a print of the one with the moose running along the road.
Steven Guttman

Namaste’ and peace love, dove to you Killian,LOL.
KB

Umm… Because these images were created by Google cameras and cameramen make these images the PROPERTY OF GOOGLE? It’s one thing if 2 people standing next to each other take a picture of the same event. It’s COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND/OR PLAGIARISM TO REPOST SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK AS YOUR OWN! It’s is not his art. It’s Google’s art!
gogokitty

It’s a Caribo and that’s on Newfoundland Canada
Habc

Oh, thank you gogokitty! Yes, I see now that the antlers are different from those leaf-like moose antlers! Also thanks for letting me know where the photo was shot, it’s amazing!
Habc

Oh, thank you gogokitty! Yes, I see now that the antlers are different from those leaf-like moose antlers! Also thanks for letting me know where the photo was shot, it’s amazing!
Habc

Oh, thank you gogokitty! Yes, I see now that the antlers are different from those leaf-like moose antlers! Also thanks for letting me know where the photo was shot, it’s amazing!