Testing the Vision API's Landmark Detection with Local Landmarks

I currently live in Johannesburg and I love my city. Even though there is a lot of bad, there is also a LOT of good. I think it is a wonderful place, and it has so many historic and beautiful landmarks.

It therefore made me very sad when, no matter what image I used (and trust me, I tried a LOT of images), the Vision API could not detect our beautiful skyline:

I know that we can't really compare the online presence of Johannesburg to a city like London, which had instant results, however it still feels as if my city isn't on the digital map...

Another example of this is the Nelson Mandela bridge - which I know is no where near as famous as some other world-famous bridges - but it's still interesting that there are no results. It made me feel a bit better that our Bloukrans bridge at least got a result.

Here are two world-famous bridges in comparison:

I also know that an unclear picture can change the result of this API, which is why I tried as many images as I could for all landmarks - as it is only a program after all. This is demonstrated by the one incorrect (but it's not a null result though?? Interesting??) result of the New York City skyline:

Some famous Johannesburg landmarks that are recognised include:

This process makes me even more determined to encourage, grow, be a part of, narrate, etc. an online culture of equality that hears and uplifts Africa's voice and history in order to shift the dominant white Northern tide towards a different and more inclusive internet. We will put South Africa and Johannesburg on the digital map.