ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Googlescapes: Landscape in the Post-Photographic Era

publication · 2026-04-24

An article in Artpress n°440 (January 2017, pp. 59-65) examines how Google Street View and Google Earth provide a photographic double of the planet, a 19th-century fantasy now realized. These tools renew the landscape genre and invite a rethinking of the concept itself. The text suggests that with such devices, one can undertake virtual hikes through landscapes, altering traditional notions of representation and experience.

Key facts

  • Published in Artpress n°440, January 2017
  • Article spans pages 59-65
  • Focuses on Google Street View and Google Earth
  • Describes these as offering a photographic double of the planet
  • Claims this fulfills a 19th-century fantasy
  • Argues they renew the landscape genre
  • Invites rethinking the notion of landscape
  • Mentions virtual hikes as a new possibility

Entities

Institutions

  • Artpress

Sources