When Google Photo Sphere data is absent of humans it makes me wonder what it would be like to be an alien ethnographer, looking for evidence of Earth’s inhabitants. Buildings and landmarks may tell the story, but I’m more interested in looking at what’s on the ground. Trash, footprints, stains, pathways, pavers, discarded items.

These images were collected from Google Earth. The magic of this technology, especially in the stitching of panoramic images can — ironically enough, create some otherworldly looking surfaces.