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Hipster Duck

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I found this project to map where tourists (red) and locals (blue) or either group (yellow) take pictures that are uploaded to the internet. Unfortunately, I can't find anything about the project's background, and/or who did it.

Toronto:

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Montreal

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Vancouver

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London:

4671589629_c4ec2cc42b_b.jpg


New York:

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Paris-Versailles:

4671584999_57a872d38e_b.jpg


Tokyo:

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Las Vegas

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I saw the Toronto one earlier, but it's amazing to see the full set. Thanks, HD.

I'm assuming that the lines that connect some of the dots is when a series of photos were taken in order?
 
And that's why I've always said that the best way to tour New York between 34th and 59th is to do so by express subway.

Doesn't look like Toronto is popular among tourists!
 
compared to the 4 or 5 most popular tourist destinations in the world it's not. What were you expecting?
 
Thus my ironic Vegas point. Indeed, when it comes to urban health in general, never mind tourist health, the red/blue ratios are all-important...
 
my reply was in response to Chuck's. It just so happened you snuck in a minute earlier.
 
CDL, I don't know. I am still puzzled by that arc that extends out from downtown Vancouver through Strathcona and down [presumably] Clark Dr. There's not much to photograph in that stretch, even for locals who might be interested in esoteric urban issues.

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The blue areas of these maps are a pretty good indicator of where urban, walkable neighbourhoods with a lot of commercial character exist - at least in the 3 Canadian cities, New York and London. What I also found interesting is that urban exploration and photography is more pronounced in English speaking countries than in Continental Europe or Asia. This is partly because these photo sharing sites are geared toward English speakers (Flickr, Picasa, etc.), but also because valuing the urban built form is something that Anglos, and particularly people in North America, don't take for granted. Maybe this has to do with the fact that urban, walkable areas are the exception rather than the norm in our cities.
 
I also find interesting that the blue is more pronounced in, well, "hipster-compatible" areas than in those more affluent/conservative in nature (for instance, NE vs SW Paris, or Billburg vs the Upper East Side)
 
You gotta keep in mind that the majority of those uploading digital photos are probably under 40 "hipsters." Or even younger. So the areas will reflect that. Also, judging by Canada's cities listed, it's clear that many communities simply don't have the time and disposable income handy to afford digital cameras or surf the web all the time.

Adma, have you ever taken a digital photo and uploaded it to a photo sharing site? I don't recall you ever posting any photos....
 
CDL, I don't know. I am still puzzled by that arc that extends out from downtown Vancouver through Strathcona and down [presumably] Clark Dr. There's not much to photograph in that stretch, even for locals who might be interested in esoteric urban issues.
I think it's Commerical, not Clark. But that's not nearly as surprising as the blue arc along Great Northern Way; I can't imagine what's to photograph on that stretch, except perhaps the Skytrain or the mountains, which makes me wonder how did this project assign the picture locations - if you stand on this particular road and photograph out to the mountains, do they assign those pictures to this road? I also don't know if this place, located on this stretch of Great Northern way, may somehow skew the data.
 
It's tough to say for sure without knowing how many dots are in each city/location, but I agree that Toronto's blue dominance is not really a lack of tourists, or even a lack of tourists taking and posting pics of Toronto on photo sharing sites, but almost solely a reflection of a significant local urban fanbase taking hordes of photos of things that are not OCAD or the CNN Tower or the Eaton Centre geese/fountain or old stone buildings in the the UofT/Queen's Park complex. New York, London, Paris, Vegas...block after block filled with tourist treats that warrant a photo. Tourists just aren't going to be as impressed with images/sights along Queen or Bloor or Yonge or any number of other places as locals looking for great shots of bike racks or posters or new restaurants or guerilla gardening or whatever. Toronto doesn't have one large tourist zone, just a handful of big tourist sites embedded within a city built almost exclusively for local consumption rather than tourists or grandiosity, so red dots are going to be smothered by blue dots.

The yellow dots are sometimes strange, though...are they not sure about whether it's tourists or local New Yorkers that are visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island? Where's the divide placed between locals and tourists? Foreign? Out of state/province?
 
Adma, have you ever taken a digital photo and uploaded it to a photo sharing site? I don't recall you ever posting any photos....

Just because one has good sex doesn't mean one has to take pictures or shoot videos, much lest post them.
 

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