The standard view plus tourists by Michael Maniezzo.
Jeffrey Bartholet has a lengthy piece at Smithsonian Magazine entitled How to Save the Taj Mahal?, a brief history of the monument and also an examination of the preservation problems the site faces. Reading his essay it occurred to me that despite the Taj Mahal being one of the world’s most famous and recognisable buildings the pictures we’re shown of it are nearly always the same, showing a view along one of the canals that runs through the gardens towards the monument. The panoramas at 360cities immediately rectify this with some stunning shots showing the site up close or from a considerable distance. The latter selection are unlike any I’ve seen before, and give a great sense of the river which runs around the Taj Mahal complex and the countryside around the city of Agra. Bartholet notes that five million people visited Agra between March 2010 and March 2011, many of them adding to the damage the monument has already sustained. People may rail against virtual tourism as an iniquity but where sites such as this are concerned it’s a lot less polluting and destructive than the alternative.
Sunset by Justin Imhoff.
The Yamuna River by Justin Imhoff.
A view by Roger Berry from nearby ruins.
Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The panoramas archive