SALON

Wednesday, Mar 7, 2012 4:59 AM UTC

Cruising the street view

A blog uses the Google maps function to scope out cute guys. Is it fun, art -- or a creepy invasion of privacy? SLIDE SHOW

By

Topics: Salon -- After Dark, Slide Shows, slideshow,

Cruising the street view

View the slide show

Most people use Google Street View for practical purposes, whether to look at the façade of a building and discover how an old neighborhood has changed or to check out the looks of an one not yet visited. But a new blog has found a novel use for the Google application: checking out guys. For the last five months, Dudes From Views has been collecting images of men culled from Google Street View, with some concise commentary: “Smooth Ukranian”; “Triceps and biceps on Christopher Street.”

But beyond just being a novel, tongue-in-cheek use of technology, “Dudes From Views” raises interesting questions about the subtle ground between what one might call voyeurism — secretly taking pictures of attractive, half-naked people and posting them in a public space — and public information. To get more insight into this Big Brother-meets-peepshow hybrid, Salon corresponded with the blog’s creator, Brad, over email, about his method, issues of privacy and the Google gaze. Click above for a slide show of images from the site.

How did you come up with the idea for Dudes From Views?

I live in NYC and use Google Maps and Street View a lot in general. I’ve seen sites like 9-Eyes that find serious photography from Street View and have wanted to do my own spin. One time I went to Google’s site promoting Street View at famous landmarks around the world and saw they had photos from beaches, so I thought finding guys in Street View (and other similar sites) would be a fun and novel take on blogs that just post pictures of hot guys.

How do you find your photos? It seems awfully labor intensive — I’m legitimately curious.

I think of public places where people are likely to be without their shirts, like beaches, gyms entrances, running trails, and then I find those places in cities that have Street View (or similar services). Sometimes it’s frustrating because the photos will be taken early in the morning when there’s few people around, or during colder seasons when people are more bundled up. That strategy works better for Google if they’re trying to get pictures of buildings, but not for me. And sometimes it can take a while to find a picture I can use (people need to be pretty close to the camera).

The site raises some interesting questions about privacy — there have been controversies about Google Earth taking pictures of naked people, like recently the woman in Florida. 

It’s an interesting problem. My feelings are that Google only drives their cars through public places and they’re capturing what everyone else out in public can already see. Their cars are clearly marked and have a giant camera on top, and I often see people waving at them. If you’re doing something embarrassing, you’re already exposing yourself to whoever can see you if you don’t do it behind closed doors. Google just needs to make sure they have an easy way for people to notify them, and for them to react quickly, when someone has an issue with the photos. Other sites, like Daum in Korea, sometimes blur out entire bodies, but then Yandex in Russia doesn’t blur anything out at all.

As far as my site goes, I’m using photos that these sites have already allowed, and I wouldn’t want to post anything embarrassing.

In modern photography criticism, it’s become almost common wisdom to associate power and violence with the photographer (and camera’s) position. Do you think this idea translates when thinking about the cameras of Google Earth and Street View?

I’m not sure. There is a sense of “Big Brother” with what Google’s doing, especially with the scale that they’re doing it in, but that applies to all their products in general. The Street View photos are fairly automated, and Google’s limited in the places their cars can travel (either physically or by jurisdictions in the cities or countries they want to map). Other than that, I don’t think the power lies with Google’s cameras at all, just the few people like me who are crazy enough to try to curate them in the arduous way that we can.

What would your reaction be to someone making the equivalent about women — something like Chicks From Views? Have you seen the groupings of Street View pictures of alleged prostitutes? 

There’s definitely a double-standard. I honestly don’t think a Chicks From Views would last very long. It’s a lot more acceptable amongst gay men to (discreetly) ogle at other men, even if they have a boyfriend, than it is for a man to stare at women. And it brings up a lot of issues with misogyny, objectification, etc. Prostitution is an even more sensitive subject, and I wouldn’t want to post pictures of that (or people doing anything else illegal) even if it were pictures of men. The point of my site is to do the equivalent of elbowing your friend to look at the hot guy that just walked by.

View the slide show

Lucy McKeon

Lucy McKeon is an editorial fellow at Salon. More Lucy McKeon.

Next Article

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

    View the slide show

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

    View the slide show

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

    View the slide show

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

    View the slide show

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

    View the slide show

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

    View the slide show

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

    View the slide show

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

    View the slide show

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

    View the slide show

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

    View the slide show

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

More Related Stories

Comments

 47 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

Every weeknight, Salon lets loose with Salon -- After Dark, our series of edgy and smart sex stories covering everything from porn to sex-themed art to the science of getting it on. Check back at around midnight ET (9 p.m. PT) Monday through Friday, for fresh new stories. For more information, click here.

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
The full Bank of America whistleblower details (affidavits)
325 points326 points | 7 comments
vote
Study: Young people are more liberal than they think they are.
60 points61 points | 22 comments
vote
How cash secretly rules surveillance policy: Today's congressional hearing was a joke. The reason: Firms like Booz Allen bankroll and own Congress. Here's how
44 points45 points | 6 comments
vote
The internal war between House Oversight Committee chair Darrell Issa and ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings blew up again Tuesday, when Cummings released the full transcript of a five-hour interview with the conservative Republican IRS screening manager.
38 points39 points | 6 comments
vote
Virginia Man Pleads Guilty To Forging Newt Gingrich Primary Signatures: Adam Ward pleaded guilty to 36 counts of voter fraud and perjury
46 points47 points | 2 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves": Growing up primate

Recommendations