Collectives by Cássio Vasconcellos

With the global population in constant bloom, the Earth’s surface is quickly filling with the spoils and artefacts of man-made conquests. Photographer Cássio Vasconcellos takes to the sky to document our density across the sprawls and plains of our planet. Combining single photographs into mosaic-like composites, his Collectives series places an emphasis not on who we are, but howwe are as we saturate the surface and collectively overcrowd our planet. Indeed, Vasconcellos preserves the sharp, high-definition of each individual plane, train, and individual he photographs. As such, the composites offer an intense look at the scale of our population explosion.

The style of photographic composites that Vasconcellos is the topic of our book PhotoViz. Edited by renowned designer Nicholas Felton, the book showcases new ways to visualize processes and datasets using photography as a medium. To see more data visualizations through a new lens, browse PhotoViz.