early aerial photography Archives - Blog Historic Aerials

The Film That Mapped a Continent

What does it take to photograph an entire country? That question consumed military planners, government surveyors, and commercial mapping companies throughout the twentieth century. The answer turned out to hinge

Aerial photograph of the village of Labruguière, France, taken from a kite by Arthur Batut.

Before Drones: The Forgotten Age of Kite Aerial Photography

On May 12, 1888, somewhere over a farm in southern France, a rubber band snapped. A shutter fired. A glass plate captured a road, a brook, and a bridge from

1928 aerial photograph of Manhattan showing the island, surrounding waterways, and dense urban development.

Edith Keating: Aerial Photography’s First Woman Pioneer

In 1925, Edith Keating was hired to type memos at Fairchild Aerial Surveys in New York City. It was a standard administrative role, but Keating proved to be a distracted

World War I Caquot kite balloon in flight, showing stabilizing lobes and tether lines used for aerial reconnaissance and artillery observation.

Balloons Of War Part V Twilight Over The Trenches

High above the mud, wire, and shattered earth of the Western Front, tethered observation balloons swayed in the wind. To soldiers below, these elongated hydrogen-filled shapes—often likened to sausages—were a

Tethered British military observation balloon supported by a wagon team during the Second Boer War.

Balloons of War, Part IV: Africa’s Skies and the Colonial Eye

When the balloon first rose over Africa, it was not over a battlefield, but as a spectacle. In 1798, during Napoleon Bonaparte’s Egyptian campaign, a hydrogen balloon was brought to

Glass photographic dry plate negative held up to light

How Dry Plates Solved Aerial Photography’s Biggest Problem

In 1860, if you wanted an aerial photo, you need more than just a camera. You needed a flying chemistry lab. The wet plate process required photographers to be part-aeronaut,

Nadar and the Birth of Aerial Photography

History records that a man named Nadar took the first aerial photograph from a balloon over Paris. There is only one problem: no one has ever seen it. In 1858,

Panning panoramic aerial photograph showing widespread destruction in San Francisco following the 1906 earthquake and fire.

The First Time Humanity Saw a Disaster From the Sky

How did anyone photograph San Francisco from the air in 1906—years before airplanes existed?
George R. Lawrence’s panoramic image of the ruined city looks deceptively modern, but its creation

Lindbergh and the Birth of Aerial Archaeology in the Americas

Charles Lindbergh is best remembered for his historic transatlantic flight, but his contributions to archaeology are less known. His fascination with using planes for archaeological discovery began in the summer

The Film That Mapped a Continent

Before Drones: The Forgotten Age of Kite Aerial Photography

Edith Keating: Aerial Photography’s First Woman Pioneer

Balloons Of War Part V Twilight Over The Trenches

Balloons of War, Part IV: Africa’s Skies and the Colonial Eye

How Dry Plates Solved Aerial Photography’s Biggest Problem

Nadar and the Birth of Aerial Photography

The First Time Humanity Saw a Disaster From the Sky

Lindbergh and the Birth of Aerial Archaeology in the Americas

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