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Behind the Lens: How Google's Street View Traveler Is Capturing the World's Most Iconic Places

Sean O'Neill photo
Sean O'Neill
Valentina Frassi a program manager for Google Street View source google 1

Photo Credit: Valentina Frassi, a program manager for Google Street View, poses with one of the company's cameras on a trolley during the launch of a gallery at the Science Museum in London in 2016 in partnership with Google Arts and Culture.  Google

Skift Take

Business travel is often dreaded by perpetual road warriors, but that’s not true for Valentina Frassi. Except when there's a pandemic, Frassi travels the world recording iconic scenes of major landmarks that most people can only dream of seeing.

Sometimes a drive-by isn't enough. Google Maps has used cameras on trucks since 2007 to capture the world for its Street View. But when it comes to the world's best-known landmarks, the search giant has been taking extra steps to create virtual representations. Google sends workers to record the surroundings on foot when a vehicle won't work, such as for Venice's canals or the switchback paths around Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. All told, Google's staff have recorded more than 10,000 virtual tours of the world's wonders. Valentina Frassi, a program manager for Google Street View, has been one of the hidden hands behind these epic, wraparound photo montages as a founding member of the team recording the landmarks. The 35-year-old Frassi has been filming locations and arranging logistics for trips full-time for Google since 2011. She began her

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