NASA or MOMA? Play the Game!

[morningfog]

Here are some pictures. Were they taken in space, or painted here on Earth?

One of the most enduring and inspiring side effects of space exploration is the pictures -- pictures of Earth taken from new heights; pictures of Earth's neighbors, taken from new angles; pictures that resemble, and in fact are, art. They are magical. They are mysterious. They are weird. They suggest, if they don't fully embody, why we go to the trouble of exploring in the first place.

And they often resemble art of a more earthly variety. Below is a collection of images -- some of them created by prolific space photographer Chris Hadfield, taken from the International Space Station (we'll call those "NASA&quot , some of them created by nearly-as-prolific painters here on Earth (we'll call those "MOMA&quot . Here's a game: Can you tell the difference between the two?







Many more and key at link: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/03/nasa-or-moma-play-the-game/274212/

[iemitsu]

1. Very cool.

It is not always apparent which frames are pictures and which are paintings. Some are recognizable but others are not.
Worth a look anyway.

[NYC_SKP]

2. One of my very favorite books, from 1981: "Earth Watch, a Survey of the Earth From Space"

.

See the striking difference in land use along the US Canada border, see the patterns of earth and wonder at the macro/micro analogs, see mankind's impacts on the planet.

It was an early study in imagery and it transformed me.

http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Watch-Survey-World-Space/dp/0283987375/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364094321&sr=1-12&keywords=earth+watch+space

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