Ben was a fifth grader and avid hiker when he drew this remarkably detailed topographic map of Franconia Notch, New Hampshire. Dense hand-rendered contour lines fill the page, with dozens of labeled peaks, trails, brooks, ponds, and roads including Mt. Lafayette, Mt. Lincoln, the Kancamagus Highway, and Tripoli Road, all recorded with the kind of […]
Gregory’s annotated map documents a multi-day hike along the extended Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in October 1986. Campsites, passes, and Inca ruins are noted alongside candid dispatches from the trail — altitude sickness, a companion nicknamed Flounder getting lost, and a drawing session at the ruins of Winay Wana cut short by a caretaker’s […]
This map is of the Atari 2600 game, Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was drawn circa 1983 by Justin and his brother on computer paper of the time period, green and white striped on one side with perforation holes down the edge. Justin says, “I was in the first grade at the time, and […]
Alec writes, “I learned about ‘behavioral maps’ in sociology class. All hand drawn maps are more or less behavioral maps because they reflect the scale and importance of place in the human brain – like the famous map of Manhattan by [Saul] Steinberg.”
Sean’s circa 1982 map documents a time in his early teenage years when one of his favorite pass times was hiking with his dad and friends in the Santa Monica Mountains surrounding Los Angeles. The map depicts Malibu Creek State Park one of the larger of several interconnected parks in the area. Sean writes, “I […]
Kenn writes,” I drew this map while on a voyage aboard H.M. Bark Endeavour in 1999. On each leg of the trip, a volunteer was chosen to draw a record of the cruise. The map was then duplicated and distributed to everyone on the crew, some of whom only made one leg, as a keepsake. […]
Sharon drew this map of Lititz Springs Park after her son and frequent map contributor, Christian Herr, prompted her to do so. It depicts one of her favorite peaceful activities, feeding the “duckie wucks” in the pond. Of particular interest to our hand-drawn map-loving eyes is the inclusion of “oops” in the lower right corner […]
Kees, an artist from Rotterdam, sent us this drawing of Western Europe. The work shows only waterways (rivers, canals, harbours, locks) as seen from the air. Through his drawings, Kees reconstructs his nomadic childhood on the waterways of Europe. Throughout his childhood, his parents ran the cargoship, “Attacus,” sailing the rivers and canals of Belgium, […]
Emily drew this lovely map to document some of her experiences in the city while attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. We see some mundane experiences such as “always trip here,” a number of favorite places to eat, quite a few references to nice people being helpful, AND my personal favorite, “perfect […]
Tina writes, “This map is based on the view from my window. It is an aesthetic response to the graveyard of which my flat borders. While it is a very quiet place, and not visited by people very often, because I live next to it I get to see the ‘comings and goings’ of not […]
Every year, Irene draws a of map of her garden, and, as the season progresses, she adds notes about each plant. In 2011, she sent us this lovely map, drawn in the spring, for her garden plan that year.
Growing Up With Shanghai, is a series of soundwalks recorded in Shanghai, China. The audio is accompanied by a book containing transcripts, photos, and a map showing the route of the walk taken for each recording. It’s been a long time since we checked in on Terence’s project, but it looks as if the recordings […]