This series of images aim to explore private, intimate space in a public vicinity.

The images are generated as if the viewer has typed in the name of someone they know, then using google earth as a means of surveillance, finding him or her in ‘real time’.

My intention whilst shooting these portraits was for the subjects to remain unaware that they were being viewed, preserving their sense of privacy, anonymity, mystery, and solitude.

I have chosen to use an aerial perspective, ‘a bird eye view’. A view we have become accustomed to seeing on google earth. This is a perspective that can be attained and gathered in seconds.

Using google earth as a means of personal surveillance is purely a fabricated concept, but one that I find frightening. It could become a reality with the current rapid changes in surveillance technology and its accessibility to the general public.

I am exploring the aerial perspective as both an expressive and a surreptitious viewpoint, as if to uncover something about ourselves that we have not yet considered.

Privacy: The Illusion