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In 1997, Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky had an epiphany: "It occurred to me that the vast, human-altered landscapes that I pursued and photographed for over twenty years were only made possible by the discovery of oil and the mechanical advantage of the internal combustion engine. It was then that I began the oil project." For the next decade Burtynsky set himself to......read more
Christoph Gielen's aerial studies of suburban land use patterns provide a revealing perspective on the sprawl that dominates America's built landscape. Shot from a helicopter, the abstract and geometric patterns look almost otherworldly, forcing the viewer to evaluate the artificiality and unsustainability of suburban 'hoods and highway infrastructure. “With these pictures, I......read more
Like a good war photojournalist, J. Henry Fair stops at nothing to capture his image. In his case, the battle being waged is between industrial forces and the earth. The muckracking photographer takes to the sky in planes and helicopters, flying over enemy lines to shoot eerily beautiful pictures of polluted landscapes. The resulting images evoke Abstract Expressionist paintings, hence the......read more
As a rule, tree farms are less interesting to us than forests. The perfectly spaced rows of trees have nothing on the wild natural jumble of a free standing forest. But there's an exception to every rule, and, errr, this is no exception. Hanging cameras from kites and fishing poles, Dutch photog Gerco de Ruijter captures aerial views of tree farms that come off looking like geometric abstract......read more
As an architecture student at Harvard, Alex MacLean took a community planning course that exposed him to the practice of aerial photography. Inspired by the human-imposed grids and patterns he saw from the sky, MacLean pursued his pilot's licence and has since become one of America's preeminent sky photographers, having shot over much of the country and co-authored several books exploring the......read more
Aerial photography and environmentalism go hand-in-hand. What better way to witness human impact on the planet than through panoramic shots from the sky. Yann Arthus-Bertrand is maybe the world's the best known aerial photographer, a man whose art is inextricably linked to ecological consciousness. "My fondness for nature goes back to childhood, but it was as an adult that I became an......read more
In 2009, Guy Laliberte, the billionaire founder of Cirque du Soleil, boarded a Russian Soyuz rocket and shot into space. The goal: to raise awareness of clean water access and, presumably, to have an awesome time. Nine days later, Laliberte returned from his space travels with thousands of photos of Earth that he snapped with his Nikon D3S and Nikon D3X digital-SLR cameras. 102 of those epic......read more
Working out of Munich, Germany, photographer Bernhard Lang comes through with an amazing series of aerial photographs that offer a different perspective of human activities and landscapes. There's one series shot over water, and one over ice and snow. Definitely worth a look. Follow Lang's work and brush up on your German over at his blog. (via......read more
We're not generally prone to superlatives around here, but we love us some aerial photography, and German photog Stephan Zirwes takes some of the most incredible/amazing/awesome/epic aerial photos we've ever seen. Zirwes's pictures of industrial areas, beaches, construction sites, and airfields show a world is full of striking patterns and geometries. Visit his site for the full......read more
Of the many Google innovations that have transformed our media world, Google Earth may be our fave. It takes a previously esoteric realm of photography — satellite imagery — and gives any internet user the power to view the planet from the sky. In doing so, it teaches us plenty about our impact on Earth. Earlier this month, The Atlantic presented readers with a challenge: look at a......read more
