Maps by Chris Auman

Maps by Chris Auman is an illustrated atlas depicting an imaginary continent in a fictitious world. Each page is a section of a small continent existing on some unknown planet.

Specs.

4.9″ x 6.9″ 24 pages, glossy 110 lb color cover, color throughout, stapled, 100 lb paper, satin finish

Maps, An Illustrated Atlas

I have always loved maps, even though I have occasionally gotten lost even with their help. I love looking at the mass transit map of your city, even if I’ll never ride a train there. A book with a map in it is a book I want to read. Not long ago, I relocated to a city of which I was only slightly familiar. I used a map to plan out a theoretical existence before I moved.

You don’t see poverty on a simple map of landmasses and oceans. You don’t see litter, pollution, crumbling industries, or societal unrest. You see instead a very orderly representation of things. Whatever is going on down there, whatever it is you’re observing from the eye of a bird, is going exactly according to plan.

The best thing about drawing your own map is that it’s impossible to make a mistake. How could you get something wrong—a road, a river, an international boundary—when what you’ve drawn did not exist before you drew it? When you have no preconceived idea about what you’re mapping, you just put pencil to paper and go. You’re not just a cartographer. You’re a world creator. A god? I didn’t say that, but now that you mention it…