Conde Nast Traveller: How an Agoraphobe Photographs the World Through Google Street View

Jacqui Kenny, the woman behind the Instagram account @streetview.portraits, had a panic attack at Dubai International Airport on her way home to London from Auckland, her birthplace and where her sister had just been married. The attack came from Kenny’s agoraphobia, a condition that leaves her with a fear of her environment and makes travel immensely difficult.

Back home in London, Kenny felt like the day-to-day work at the media production company she founded ten years prior was closing in on her. She shuttered the company. That’s when she started typing in addresses and losing herself in Google Street View. Now, she scours countries and cities across the world and takes screenshots that capture a beautiful, unique, and otherworldly aesthetic, and posts them to Instagram. Since launching the project last summer, Kenny has amassed a following of more than 50,000. We reached out to Kenny to learn, in her own words, more about streetview.portraits, agoraphobia, and the tranquility she’s found in seeing the world from the comforts of home.

Why did you first dive into Google Street View?

First, it was definitely to calm my nerves. It was keeping my brain from having too many thoughts during a tough time. Second, it was amazing to discover all of these incredible places, places that I know I would struggle to go to myself. There was something quite liberating about that. And third, I loved it for my love for photography, when I found the moment, it felt pretty special.

How did you develop an eye for photography?

I was a creative director for a film company for many years, and one of my main jobs was to work with directors to come up with visual treatments. In order to put these treatments together I looked at hundreds and thousands of photos over the years and I adored it. In looking at so many photos I was figuring out what I liked and what I didn’t like; what made a good photo and what didn’t. I trained my eye by looking at so much.

How did you become aware of your agoraphobia?

I started to feel my world close in on me. Traveling outside my comfort zones became more and more difficult. I started realizing that it was quite a concern when I would go to buy something at the local supermarket and I couldn’t even get there. I would have to go back home because I thought I was going to have a panic attack and embarrass myself in front of people, so I would run home. I knew that if I couldn’t even go to the local shop I had to sort that out.

I was diagnosed eight years ago. But I’ve had mental health problems for more than 20 years. I had my first panic attack in my early 20s. Back then, twenty plus years ago, nobody really talked about anxiety or panic attacks or things like that. So I didn’t really know what it was for a long time. It was a tricky time in my life.

Can you put the feeling into words?

It starts with the internal feelings. The first ones are the feeling that I might have a panic attack, and the physical consequence of that are heart racing and palms sweating. Sometimes I feel like when I’m walking my feet aren’t touching the ground. I feel like they’re a foot off the ground and I’m surprised I’m even walking. There’s a range of feelings, and then usually it’s that point I feel like I’ve got to get home, otherwise I really think I might have a full-blown panic attack and do something.

There are places I hate going to, places that have a lot of delicate things in them, like a lot of glass or fragile things and things that can smash easily. I don’t like walking in places like that because I think if I’m going to lose control and completely freak out I’m just going to smash everything, and the thought of that is really humiliating.

What locations are you most drawn to?

I’m really only interested in the places that are so different from where I’ve been, or where I’m from. They have to be quite extreme, with extreme temperatures and lots of fascinating elements in order for me to stay there. I really like the photos that have a feeling of isolation, and sometimes a slight disconnect. It’s hard for me to describe, but I think some of the images represent how I feel when I’m a little bit anxious. There’s a little bit of loneliness in there, but I really love vibrate pastoral colors and hope and optimism. My life can feel quite isolated at times but there’s plenty of hope there. That sums me up, really—quite well.

It’s interesting that seeing the world through Google Street View has brought the world to you.

Well, this is what I find incredible. I originally thought this might not be a very healthy thing to do. I was worried that this project would close my world down even more, because I’d just been inside, screen-grabbing. But I’ve realized that it’s the complete opposite. I’ve got this community of people now that I talk to on a daily basis, other people that have agoraphobia, and I really enjoy that. The more I talk about it the more open I am about it. To me it feels like less of a problem. It feels really liberating, and my life feels so much bigger for sharing it.