GBS lives.

George Bernard Shaw once accused the 35mm photographer, with his high capacity cassette of film, of being a salmon which lays thousands of eggs in the hope one will hatch.

The 9-eyes project is modern proof of the truth of that statement. The name refers to the nine lensed camera used by Google’s StreetView project to photograph everything on earth and slot the images into its mapping software. Regardless of what you may think of the invasiveness of this project – and I think it is both invasive and probably illegal – photographer Jon Rathman has taken it upon himself to curate the best images which accidentally result and you can see more on his blog by clicking the picture below. Many images are quite startling and true ‘accidental’ art. The multiplicity of one-fingered salutes and ‘moonings’ offered by subjects to Google’s prying camera suggests I am not alone in my view of the acceptability of what this thieving corporation is doing here.

Click the image for the 9-eyes site.

Many of the lansdcape images, some quite outstanding, confirm the futility of most landscape photography. All it takes is to be there and push the button. The photographer, as often as not, adds nothing. Stated differently, if I see another bloody picture of white birches I am going to scream. StreetView does it as well as Saint Ansel. And some of the surreal street candids are nothing short of superb suggesting candid street snaps are just as random and easy as those wretched landscapes.

Rathman’s site raises a lot of questions. Had one snapper caught as many great moments in his lifetime he would be regraded as the next HC-B.

A fine man passes.

Neil Armstong died the other day, leaving two legacies.

In an age of celebrity culture where selling out for a quick buck is the accepted norm, Armstrong conducted his life with discretion and humility. His greatest legacy is the character of the man which said only the very best about what it means to be an American. Unlike that other Armstrong, a common liar and cheat adulated by many, Neil Armstrong was a real man.

His second legacy, and no lesser than the first, is that he took the most wonderful photograph of the twentieth century. In that turbulent decade of the 1960s, watching men walk on the moon was the most thrilling confirmation of my belief in the greatness of America to which I immigrated some 8 years later, easily the smartest thing I ever did.

Buzz Aldrin, photographed by Neil Armstrong, July 20, 1969.

You can read about Armstrong’s gear here and, yes, it’s still available, free. You just have to get to the moon to retrieve it.