Warning: Extremely Addictive!

Before you decide to visit the new World Wide Panoramas website be sure you’ve set aside some free time, as it’s next to impossible to view just a few of these panoramas. The concept is simple but brilliant: One day, March 20, 2004, or the Spring Equinox, 180 photographers, 40 countries. The event is the World Wide Panorama and was open to anyone who wanted to participate and produced a usable panorama. An incredible 180 photographers worldwide participated, including many of the leading professional VR photographers.

Each panorama is a surprise and reflects the unique perspective of the photographer. Many of the panos have accompanying text, written by the photographer, summarizing the scene, providing historical background information (some are like mini-travelogues), or simply relating why the photographer felt compelled to take the shot. It’s almost like peeking into a succession of diaries, opened randomly to one page: you don’t know whether you’ll find the mundane or the sublime, but whatever it is, you know it will be revealing in its own small way.

The idea was to capture a moment in time, and the spring equinox was chosen, although any day would have sufficed. The project was based upon a popular earlier project that first took place on December 21, 1997 (winter solstice) called ‘A Wrinkle in Time’, when more than 100 of the world’s best QTVR photographers gathered on five different continents and simultaneously shot 360-degree panoramas as a record of the time and the moment.

That initial project was organized by Robert “Rabbett” Abbet, who dedicated the event to children’s author Madeleine L’Engle, who mesmerized many children with her novel “A Wrinkle In Time”. (The classic children’s story from the 1960s deals with universal themes such as good versus evil and the pain of not fitting in socially. ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ follows the adventures of a teenage girl as she travels through space and time with her brother and a school friend. These travels bring her to the heart of evil where she rescues her father and wins back her brother with a force greater than evil – love.)

The WWP event was organized by Don Bain, Director of the Geography Computing Facility at the University of California Berkeley, and Landis Bennett, a Petaluma, California based cartographer and panoramic VR photographer. The event was sponsored by the Geography Computing Facility at the University of California Berkeley and the website is hosted by The Geo-Images Project. It is a non-commercial project, done simply to create enthusiasm for VR photography, and provide an outlet for the collective creativity of VR photographers.

The website is extremely easy to navigate, fast to download and remarkably well-organized, especially when one considers the logistics in gathering and presenting such a large number of panoramas coming in simultaneously. The panos are listed alphabetically, by the photographers’ names, as well as regionally. The homepage offers a world map with click-able dots representing the geographic location of the pano. And organizers Don and Landis recently added the option of browsing via thumbnail graphics, although my personal preference is to view them alphabetically and try to figure out where they were shot, before reading the description.

The range of environments is staggering: from the desert heat of Baja California to the frozen Gulf of Finland, from springtime cherry blossoms in Seattle and Los Angeles to blustery late winter in the British Isles and the Netherlands. And the scope of subjects is impressively wide: from familiar landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, Ipanema Beach in Rio, and the Taj Mahal, to street markets in Germany and Denmark, a child's birthday party, a cellar, and even a bathroom. There are people doing interesting things: "sugaring off" in Quebec, getting married in New Jersey, planting a garden in East Los Angeles. There is a peace march in Hollywood, and tributes to the late Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, Princess Diana, and John Lennon. Rich and poor are here too, from a yacht show in Dubai, to a Romany (gypsy) encampment near Rome. History abounds, with a Stonehenge-like megalithic site in Denmark, the burial site of Saint Patrick, the grave of Rabbi Isaac Luria in Israel, pagodas in Japan, and a monument to the Canadian women who established that legally "women are persons". There are ancient cities like Bologna, and the soon to be world's tallest building in Taiwan. There are views from countries that have opened to the world since the end of the Cold War: Tallinn in Estonia, Kiev in the Ukraine, Chongquing in China.

It’s almost an injustice to highlight only a few of the panoramas as the charm of the project is best realized when viewed in its totality. In fact, it’s really quite a personal thing and different panos will strike a chord with different people. VRMAG asked a few photographers for permission to include their panos with this article, but I would strongly urge readers to visit the WWP website for themselves.

Toni Garbasso, Spring in Rome, Via di Salone, Rome, Italy
‘Spring in Rome’ depicts a dreary, overcast day at a Romani camp on the extreme eastern side of Rome where solemn, haunted-looking children are waiting for spring, and an improvement to their living circumstances. Photographer Toni Garbasso writes:
“Here, beside a Council camp for Slav gypsies, a sort of spontaneous settlement of Rumanian Romani gypsies has developed. The population varies between 800 and 1200. There is no electricity, no drains, just two standing pipes for water. In the winter, they burn plastic bottles to keep themselves warm, the rain gets into the caravans and there are big rats everywhere. In terms of hygiene and sanitation, the situation verges on an emergency. Last summer the illegal settlement was demolished and the inhabitants were thrown together in an area where a new fully equipped camp was supposed to be set up the following spring. The pano shows the first day of spring - only a high fence has been built. It looks like a cage. Meanwhile the inhabitants of the camp are waiting for spring to come.”

view QTVR medium & infos
view fullscreen

Eric Lerch, Vue sur la Garonne - Claude Nougaro's Panorama , Toulouse, France
‘Claude Nougaro’s Panorama’ depicts the riverside view from the late singer’s house in his native Toulouse, accompanied by his music.

view QTVR medium & infos

A Y R T O N, Ipanema Beach, Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
“Tall and tan and young and lovely, the girl from Ipanema goes walking”... we all know the famous song that put Brazil’s Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro on the lips of everyone dreaming of a warm ocean getaway. But on the Spring Equinox 2004, the weather looks decidedly – non-beachy. Ayrton da Motta Camargo Junior writes: “Brazilians love to be outside, walking, jogging, riding bicycles, going to the beaches and meeting each other. Rio is normally a very sunny, hot and humid city, but on the Equinox day, the weather was very strange and different, like you can see on the panorama.”

view QTVR medium & infos
view fullscreen

Marco Luethi, From Ultraviolet to Infrared, Montagnola, Ticino, Switzerland
VRMAG’s own Marco Luethi submission, in one of the more unusual panoramas, shows himself in various poses in his bathroom (showering, brushing his teeth, sitting on the toilet) as he apparently waits for the Equinox in Montagnola, Switzerland.

view QTVR medium & infos
view fullscreen

Mark Boiling, Central Mosque, Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Mark Boiling writes:
“Glasgow's Central Mosque and Islamic Centre is located on the south bank of the River Clyde within the Gorbals. The focal point for the estimated 30,000 Muslims in Glasgow and Strathclyde, it was completed in 1984 at a cost of £3 million and covers an area of 1.2 ha (4 acres) making it the largest Mosque in Europe. Like all Muslim places of worship it faces the Ka'aba in Mecca. Architecturally it is a mixture of modern designs and traditional Islamic features. In the days leading up to the shoot I asked all the people I came into contact with professionally and socially whether they had ever been inside the Central Mosque. Across the board the answer was ‘no’. “

view QTVR medium & infos
view fullscreen

Robert C. Fisher, First planting of the Medicine Garden at Proyecto Jardin , East Los Angeles, California, USA
Robert C. Fisher writes:
“This is the first planting of the medicine garden here at Proyecto Jardin, a community garden in East Los Angeles. The garden is located in a very urban neighborhood and leased from White Memorial Medical Center. Most community gardens are separate plots but this garden is shared by everyone. The garden also serves as an open-air classroom for a nearby school. The celebration has its roots in both Native American and Hispanic cultures and is celebrated each year on the Spring Equinox.”

view QTVR medium & infos
view fullscreen

Are Flågan, The View from Ustetind, Ustetind, Norway
Are Flagan writes:
“The view from the top of Ustetind, 1376 meters above sea level. As the sun sets in the west on this spring equinox, the time of capture gives viewers a compass for other landmarks: To the south lies the vast Hardangervidda mountain plateau with Gaustatoppen in the far distance. To the north, the Hallingskarvet escarpment looms with its distinctive profile. The tiny specks of cabins can be seen around Ustaoset, located in the Hallingdalen valley below. Geilo, a popular ski resort, can be found, but not easily seen, a few kilometers further east.
Just behind the summit cairn, a mere 30 meters below the highest point, lies the perfectly situated Ustetind cabin. Please visit the full screen for a closer view of this vast landscape. After a rather miserable morning, the weather cleared toward the afternoon. A very strong wind and fast-moving clouds, however, thwarted any hope of pixel-matching HDR to get more detail out of the area around the sun. The tripod was firmly anchored with stones around the legs, but the spirit level in the hotshoe still acted like it was voyaging on the high seas. A close look at the photographer's shadow reveals someone with white knuckles holding on to the VR rig. Still, a beautiful sunset seeing off a winter that is still in its prime this far north.”

view QTVR medium & infos
view fullscreen

Yasuhiro Fujimoto, Jyogyodo, Three storied Pangoda and Monji Hall of Nyoi-ji , Taniguchi Hazetani-Cho, Kobe, Japan
Jyogyodo: The three-storey Pagoda and Monji Hall of Jyoi-ji, an important national cultural property designated in 1952. Jyogyodo was built in the late 12th century, the Pagoda in 1385 and Monji Hall in the 15th century.

view QTVR medium & infos
view fullscreen

Stéphane Negri, Rauba Capeu, Nice, on the Côte d'Azur, France
Stéphane Negri writes:
“Rauba Capeu: the name of this location comes from the local expression "Rauba Capeu" (Niçois dialect), the translation of which is ‘Where the hats fly’, since this place is very windy. Please notice the intentional shadow on the solar watch circle, indicating the time of the shot.”

view QTVR medium & infos
view fullscreen

Waleed Nassar , The Giza Pyramids, On top of the middle Pyramid of the Queens, Giza Pyramids Plateau, Giza, Egypt
Waleed Nassar writes:
“I've been to see the Giza Pyramids many times and every time I enter the main gate of the Giza plateau I feel I've passed through a time gate. Leaving behind me the noisy 21st Century and entering a quiet 4,000-year-old civilization.
The more you walk between the monuments the more you realize nothing has changed here. The tourists and the buses that brought them are insignificant next to the pyramids.
I sneaked my way up the middle pyramid of the three Queen's Pyramids. In front of me lay the three Giza Pyramids and behind me was still the insignificant 21st century city. This is when I realized that I could be standing here on 20th March 1904 or even 3004 and still the picture will not change.
I'm sharing my world for the World Wide Panorama viewers by removing anything that might distract you from the feeling I had while I was looking from top of the pyramid. A QTVR without color or audio.”

view QTVR medium & infos
view fullscreen

David Gibson, Sugaring off in the Eastern Townships -Partie de Sucre, Cantons de l'Est Hatley, Eastern Townships of Québec, Canada
David Gibson writes:
“A great tradition at this time of year in the Eastern Townships, as well as in other maple-syrup producing regions of Canada and the U.S., is the "sugaring off" party. Most of the sugar camps are family owned and operated. On a nice day families and friends gather at the sugar camp for fun and to help out with collecting and boiling the sap. The sap is almost water clear and it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. The syrup is further boiled to thicken and then poured on snow to make taffy, an incredibly sweet smooth treat. No wonder this tradition continues. For the sap to run, the temperature must go above freezing during the day and freeze again at night…”

view QTVR medium & infos
view fullscreen

Michael Quan, John Kerry's House, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Michael Quan writes:
“John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, live on historic Louisburg Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Their townhouse home is the building with the American flag and the large black Secret Service vehicle parked in front. (This panorama was made while Kerry was out of town.) Naturally, the home is becoming a popular stop for tourists since it is located only steps from the Massachusetts State House. The Democratic National Convention will be held in Boston, 26-29 July 2004.”

view QTVR medium & infos
view fullscreen

Don Bain is Director of the Geography Computing Facility at the University of California Berkeley. In addition to supervising computer labs he teaches computer cartography and field studies. He has taken over 4000 VR panoramas, from Tahiti to the Arctic, many of which can be seen on his web site "Don Bain's Virtual Guidebooks".

Landis Bennett is a Petaluma, California based cartographer and panoramic VR photographer. His company 360Geographics self-publishes trail maps, creates custom maps for publishing, and produces commercial VR panoramas as well as a large stock of tourist and travel oriented panoramas from across North America. Many of these panoramas can be seen on his web site at .

Stats:
- 180 participants
- 36-40 countries (depending on the definition
- 68 Cylindrical panos
- 111 Cubic panos (not necessarily fully up and down, but definitely high VFOV)
- 1 object movie
- 7 panos that incorporate sound in some way
- 142 panos have additional full screen panoramas
Read 'AN INTERVIEW WITH WORLD WIDE PANORAMA ORGANIZERS'.