A five-year project to reveal "the most interesting places in the world" has surprised its creator, revealing pockets of photographic fascination he didn't know existed.
Eric Fischer, a developer for mapping software service, Mapbox, has combined 10 years worth of Flickr data with a global map to reveal not only where photos were taken, but by 'joining the dots' between them, the journeys people took along the way.
There are more than two billion geotagged photos on Flickr. A "cluster" of geotagged photos showed a location was interesting because people had gone there, and then taken the extra effort to post their photos online, Mr Fischer said.
"And a sequence of photos along a route is even more significant, because it indicates that someone sustained their interest over distance and time rather than taking one picture and turning back." he wrote in a blog post.
"The project has been full of surprises, making me aware of streets, neighbourhoods, and whole cities I knew nothing about before. The separate paths of thousands of individuals combine to give the appearance of a sketch."
The map, titled the 'Geotaggers World Atlas', shows concentrations of photos in black, with pictures taken at speeds between 11kmh and 30kmh displayed in red, which is great for revealing Sydney's ferry routes, as you can see below.
Zooming out, some of Sydney's photogenic beaches come into view, along with a slight concentration around King Street in Newtown and the inner west (street art fans?). Explore the map here.
Melbourne is heavily photographed, too, with lots of snaps taken along the Yarra, Swanston Street, St Kilda Road, and around the Shrine of Remembrance. St Kilda Pier stands out if you look further south.
Many of the world's other top tourist spots look amazing, too. Here's New York (click for original).
London (click for original).
Paris (click for original).
San Francisco (click for original).
And Hong Kong (click for original).
More photos of world cities can be found here.
Fairfax Media
