June 14, 2008

The History of Aerial Photography

Aerial photography has come a long way since its beginnings in 1840. This is when the idea of using photography for topographic surveying was introduced to the world. Then, in 1840, a Parisian photographer named Felix Nadar, took this idea and ran with it. He was the first person known to take aerial pictures from a hot air balloon. Unfortunately, there are no surviving pictures to celebrate his journey.

However, in 1860, James Wallace Black (known professionally as J.W. Black) was the first to photographer to successfully shoot aerial photographs in the United States. With the help of balloonist, Samuel A. King, Black photographed Boston from a hot-air balloon. His photos of Boston are the oldest aerial shoots in existence.

In 1903, German Engineer Julius Neubronner patents a breast-mounted camera for pigeons giving photography a literal “bird’s eye view” of the world. This made the pigeon a very helpful spy in World Wars I and II.

After the 1906 earthquake that rattled San Francisco, commercial photographer George Lawrence used a string of kites to take a 160-degree panoramic picture of the city’s ruins. The camera weighed 49 pounds.

Want to learn more about the history of aerial mapping? Then, please read The History of Aerial Photography.

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