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.
51Laguna Salada de Torrevieja is a 35-acre (14-hectare) hypersaline lake in Torrevieja, Spain
52Amazing shades of red in saltwater evaporation lagoon near St. Kilda, South Australia
53Lido Isle is a man-made island located in the harbor of Newport Beach, California
54Rapids water park is a water park in Riviera Beach, Florida
55Dozens of sailboats are moored in Woodford Bay, New South Wales, Australia
56Glen Lake is a lake in northwestern Michigan, USA, located just offshore Lake Michigan
57A small portion of the city on Tokyo Bay, with the Arakawa River, featured on the right
58Lincoln Memorial all the way to the Washington Monument
59Clouds circle the summit of Mount Damāvand, the highest peak in Iran with an elevation of 18,403 feet
60In this Overview, large rock formations are shown rising above the desert landscape in Northeastern Arizona, USA
61Powderhorn Park is a residential neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota
62Piraeus is a port city in Greece
63This Overview shows a large picnic at US-Mexico border, spanning from Tecate, California, USA
64Seattle Center is an arts, educational, tourism and entertainment center in Seattle, Washington
65Cádiz is an ancient port city surrounded by the sea in southwest Spain
66A small bay in Prince Frederick Harbour, Western Australia
67Grammichele is located on the island of Sicily in southern Italy
68Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
69This photograph was captured from a nearby NASA shuttle training aircraft
70The Tangalooma Wrecks is a shipwreck site on the western side of Moreton Island in South East Queensland, Australia
71Three massive airplanes are docked at San Francisco International Airport in California
72The town of Palmanova, Italy
73Large piles of coal await shipment on Kooragang Island, part of the Port of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia
74This amazing shot shows swirling waves offshore Perth, Australia
75Amazing Overview of the Nile River in Egypt
