"The first scene on the clip shows people from the antiwar group Not in Our Name lying on the grass in Central Park, spelling out a giant "NO" with their bodies. Every so often the camera operator focuses on some young women lounging nearby who do not seem to be part of the antiwar event. The hovering blimp cam seems almost to float above this tranquil scene. It might even be a pretty picture if it were not for the fact that we are viewing this all through what appears to be a military targeting scope superimposed on the frame."
These shots show highlights of the blimp footage, note just how much of New York can be seen as it zooms out:
What strikes me is the one phrase, "Every so often the camera operator focuses on some young women lounging nearby who do not seem to be part of the antiwar event," ââ¬â as I'm sure you would too if you had a camera like that. When implementing surveillance technology, what use is it if nobody is watching? But then how detached can one be from what's being observed?
Watching this stuff second or third hand on the web is also quite jarring. As part of a daily diet of often highly personal clips, parodies and skits on YouTube (and superb post-modern twists combining everything), voyeurism is becoming ordinary.
The scope of this surveillance reminds me of a great Matt Webb story, The Mirrored Spheres of Patagonia, where the inhabitants of a city can see everything through a network of telescopes and reflective spheres. Matt's vision is here, it's just not evenly distributed yet.