Heliography Project 1827–2027
The Last Photographs
I use heliography — the first photographic process — to preserve Google Street View frames recorded by one machine and later overwritten by another.
Google Street View is the last great act of photographic recording of the world — automatic, without intention, without gaze. What comes after are no longer photographs. They are probabilities.
I move through Google Street View, searching for moments that were not meant to be seen. When I find one, I translate it into an early photographic process: heliography after Niépce, 1827.
Bitumen on Zinc sheet. Sunlight. Once. No repetition. The material is asphalt—the same substance the street is made of, on which the image was recorded. The street returns to the image.
Each work is unique: one box, one plate, one moment. 1827–2027.
→ Project Concept
Venice, Calle dei Tredici Martiri, April 2013. The Google camera recorded this frame. In September 2024, I found it, produced an internegative, and exposed a 10 × 15 cm asphalt-coated metal plate. Six hours of sunlight. Contact printing. Single exposure. I titled the heliograph Photographer. Frame still accessible. → Google Street View. Verified June 2026.
. . .
Bitumen on Zinc sheet. Sunlight. Once. No repetition. The material is asphalt—the same substance the street is made of, on which the image was recorded. The street returns to the image.
Each work is unique: one box, one plate, one moment. 1827–2027.
→ Project Concept
Tokyo, Shibuya, May 2015. The image was captured by Google’s cameras. In September 2023, I found the scene, made an internegative, and at the end of September coated a 10 × 15 cm metal plate with asphalt emulsion. On a sunny day, it was exposed for six hours using the contact printing process. Single exposure. I titled the heliograph The Wanderer. The Street View image has since been deleted—this is the last remaining image.
. . .