Wednesday, February 6, 2008

History of aerial photogrpahy

The first aerial photograph from a balloon was taken in France by Felix Nadar (his real name was Gaspard-Félix Tournachon). It was an image taken in Petit-Clamart, south-west of Paris, in December 1858, from a balloon tethered at a height of 270 feet. That first image has unfortunately been lost.

One of the earliest aerial photos of Paris, France can be found here. ©Hervé Lewandowski/RMN.

The story behind the First U.S. Aerial Photograph, in Boston, (1860) can be found here. View the photo here.

The first kite aerial photograph was taken by Arthur Batut in Labruguière (France) in 1888. Arthur Batut Museum (in French).

In 1906 George Raymond Lawrence just after the earthquake in San Francisco, CA used a system of kites and wires that carried a 46-pound panoramic camera 800 feet into the air and took some aerial pictures of the ruins.

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