Ever heard of the “Overview Effect?” Essentially, it’s when astronauts, who are seeing Earth from a great distance, suddenly have a mental clarity — a new understanding on what it means to be alive, and how everything is connected. Benjamin Grant is no astronaut, but he experienced something akin to the Overview Effect when he was looking through satellite images of the world.
New York consultant Benjamin Grant was trying to find satellite imagery of Earth for work, but instead pulled up images of Earth, Texas. Thankfully the tiny town is surrounded by perfect circles created by pivot irrigation systems, which got Grant thinking about the Overview Effect. Grant works with satellite company Digital Globe. He selects an area, puts in an imagery request, and then obtains all images that have been captured over his selected space. We have selected 100 of his best images from his instagram account and shared them below.
26Hong Kong
27Port Grimaud
28Salt evaporation ponds in Aigues-Mortes, southern France
29A variety of flowers, grasses, and other ornamental plants grow on a nursery in Oceanside, California
30Lyon is the third largest city in France
31Tiki Island
32The Anak Krakatoa caldera before and after its collapse in December 2018
33Svalbard satellite station
34Shuangyu Island, also known as Double Fish Island
35Seuss Landing is one of eight “islands” inside Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando, Florida
36The Arles Amphitheater is a Roman amphitheater located in the southern French town of Arles
37Evaporation ponds as seen at the Intrepid Potash Mine in Moab, Utah, USA
38A naturally occurring heart-shaped island
39Personal watercraft speeds away from a pier on the Inglis River in North West Tasmania, Australia
40Princess Juliana International Airport is the main airport on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin
41Serra de Santa Bárbara is an inactive volcanic peak on the island of Terceira in the Azores, Portugal
42Copper residue stains the walls of the Bingham Creek Reservoir in Salt Lake County, Utah
43Panteón Civil San Nicolás Tolentino is a cemetery covering about 230 acres (93 hectares) in Mexico City, Mexico
44Amazing Overview of Chicago, Illinois
45Brightly colored shipping containers are stacked next to a scrap metal storage yard at the Port of Tacoma, Washington
46Lake Macleod is the westernmost lake in Australia
47A variety of retired aircraft sit on display at Chino Airport in San Bernardino County, California
48Waves roll into the shores of Moloka'i, Hawaii
49A tailings dam collapsed at an iron ore mine in Brumadinho, Brazil
50A stack interchange forms at the intersection of Beltway 8 and Interstate 10 in Memorial City, Texas
