Incredible Images Show What City Skies Could Look like without Light Pollution

If you live in any major city, you've no doubt found yourself ocassionally looking toward the sky and wondering what it might look like if you could actually see the stars. Well, thanks to some magic worked by digital photography pioneer Thierry Cohen, we can finally find out.

Cohen took the time to travel around the world photographing major metropolitan cities, but as he did so he made particular note of the date, time, and GPS coordinates. When Earth has rotated just right, he then heads to some of the world's more desolate areas, such as the Mojave Desert, and is able to capture the same exact stars as they would have appeared over each city. He then combines the images to capture "what is lost to modern urban dwellers".

It's an ambitious project, but my god, it's beautiful... and, well, kind of sad to boot.

* As the world’s population becomes increasingly urban, there is a disjunction with the natural world which both Cohen and science posit causes both physical and psychological harm.  Cities that never sleep are made up of millions of individuals breaking natural cycles of work and repose. Cohen’s photographs attempt to restore our vision, and in beautifully crafted prints and  images offer the viewer a possibility - to re-connect us to the infinite energy of the stars.

New York City

Hong Kong

Shanghai

Paris

Tokyo

Rio de Janeiro

San Francisco

Los Angeles