Gaspar Felix Tournachon was the first man who took to the sky with a camera and a balloon around 1855. Since then there have been remarkable advances in aerial photography such as the use of kites and even pigeons. The idea: let’s make photos from the sky. But the simplest of ideas can evolve to have great consequences and impact on design, science, war, life and perceiving our world.
The first Photos taken from the sky were regarded as art. Later the combination of revolutionary technologies were used for map making and surveying. Aerial photography became, like many other advances in technology, big in times of war. During the First World War photos were taken from the sky for mapping and scouting areas of battle. The leap of technical improvements made by the army where appreciated in the scientific world. Scientists were now using aerial photography to develop concepts and ways of thinking. Another contribution to science was the possibility to minizalise field research. However, one problem applied itself: conclusions needed to be drawn from a complex play of lines, surfaces and (black and white) tones. Therefore the interpretation of aerial footage demanded a great deal of knowledge and experience.
