Seeing the picture above, you might think of it as an image of colorful roots or a vascular system. But these rainbows of tiny furrows actually represent a map of rivers in the world.
The image’s creator is a Hungarian cartographer named Robert Szucs. The map he created is, without a doubt, a work of art but Szucs sees his work as primarily scientific:
“You can call me an artist if you insist, but it still makes me smile a bit,” says Szucs. “I’m definitely still getting used to that.”
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The majority of Szucs’ maps depict expanses of land sectioned off by watersheds, the areas of land that comprise the drainage systems channeling rainwater from creeks to rivers to oceans. The cartographer found existing river maps uninspiring, and decided to use satellite data based on digital elevation models to create his own. “I’ve had this feeling for quite a while when looking at river maps, that maybe I could do better,” says Szucs. “I wanted to do justice to the beauty of rivers.” Szucs’ maps show the watersheds in a way that is both elegant and informative—though his color use is primarily an aesthetic choice, the variation in hues delineates different watersheds with scientific accuracy, with each color corresponding to a continuous river system.
Via Book of Joe
Image: Grasshopper Geography
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