No longer must every article about the National Security Agency be accompanied by the same, state-supplied image. The artist Trevor Paglen, commissioned by Creative Time Reports in partnership with The Intercept, rented a helicopter and took rare, hi-res aerial photos of the offices of the NSA, the National Reconnaissance Office, which operates American spy satellites, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and published them for free online today.
The shadowy spy agencies are rarely photographed — try image searching for “NSA office Fort Meade” and you’ll get the same handful of images over and over — and Paglen’s work, which he’s made totally public domain, is a valuable tool for journalists, artists, and anyone else interested in what our nation’s massive spying apparatus looks like.
Paglen makes a point of the fact that these images a free to use without restriction, “by anyone for any purpose whatsoever,” so why not have some fun with Photoshop? Tweet your creations at us our or send them to our tip line and we’ll post the best stuff here. That’s my weak-assed attempt at an NSA doge above. Surely, you can do better.
Get the NSA image here, NRO here, and NGA here.
(Photo: Trevor Paglen)
