An oblique view of Columbus Circle taken on Jan. 7, 1924 by the Fairchild Aerial Camera Company.
Photographer: Underwood Archives/Getty Images
A Portrait of New York City by Air in 1924
Long before Google Maps, an intrepid inventor with three camera-equipped biplanes captured a groundbreaking view of Gotham in its Jazz Age glory.
We have at our fingertips today a view of the world that was once the sinecure of gods and eagles. High-resolution satellite imagery via Google Maps enables anyone with a smartphone to tap about the planet’s cities like a snooping deity.
Though urban aerial photography began with images of Paris taken from a balloon in 1858 by Gaspard-Félix Tournachon — better known as Nadar — the real forebear of today’s ubiquitous imagery of the Earth’s surface came a century ago this month, with the unveiling of the first aerial photographic portrait of an entire metropolis. The sitter was New York City.