Subscribe to BuzzFeed Daily NewsletterCaret Down22 Fascinating Pictures From The History Of Aerial PhotographyThroughout history people have long been fascinated to see the world from above as birds do A new book chronicles the exciting and at times dangerous story of aerial photography Introducing the BuzzFeed News newsletter JPG — this weekly newsletter will feature the most powerful images from around the internet as well as behind-the-scenes exclusives from renowned photographers and our hard-hitting photo stories From as long ago as the invention of photography in the early 1800s and on through the first flight by the Wright brothers in 1903 people have always been fascinated by the bird's-eye perspective To finally see the world as birds do was not just an enormous technological feat but also a paradigm shift in how we understand the world around us each new advancement in technology offered new ways of seeing the world and therefore changed the course of history forever A new book titled From Above: The Story of Aerial Photography explores the long and exciting history of aerial photography BuzzFeed News spoke with the book's co-author on how the progress of aerial photography coincided with major events that defined world history How does From Above approach the history of aerial photography Eamonn McCabe: This book chronicles everything from Nadar's balloon photography in the mid-1800s to the use of drones today We felt like there was a need in understanding how images from above have functioned historically and continue to progress simulating a balloon flight in his Paris studio I was very interested in the beginning of it all — the pioneers These were people who would build both planes and cameras There was no problem that they couldn’t solve we wouldn’t have much of the technology we take for granted today including the tiny cameras on mobile phones in our pockets Who were some of these pioneers of aerial photography EM: Nadar was a French photographer in the 1800s who is commonly attributed as the first aerial photographer He would float above Paris in a balloon and took the first-ever photographs of the city from above There’s a fantastic cartoon of Nadar in the book that shows him in a top hat with his camera hanging out from his balloon above Paris — this shows you just how edgy it was to do this kind of work Many of the first cameras used in aerial photography were also clockwork-based so photographers could make pictures without the need of actually going up in the air these clockwork cameras were strapped onto the chests of pigeons and flown over the battlefield The camera was timed to go off while they were flying over the target and when they’d return you’d hope that the camera went off at the right time for a good picture The reality is that some days the birds would come back with nothing at all Photograph of San Francisco in ruins from the Captive Airship How did aerial photography affect the outcome of major world events in history EM: There was a tremendous amount of development during World War II when aerial photography became a very important tool for all sides Aerial surveillance became indispensable and was a prerequisite for deciding where to send troops and in determining if your mission was successful Each nation was hiring some of the greatest photographers of the day and expand their capabilities at the same time many of the great photography brands that we know today were gaining their reputations during this time — brands like Leica and Hasselblad before Nikon and Canon were really players in the market they were asked by the US several decades after the war to provide the technology that would photograph people on the moon in 1969 They had to adapt their cameras to work with huge gloves and awkward equipment the camera motors that Hasselblad developed for NASA made their way into consumer hands what's the next frontier of aerial photography EM: The fact that you can make captures of aerial photography with your personal computer and without ever touching a camera is an enormous advancement Edward Steichen photographed above the deck of USS Lexington there’s plenty of improvement for drones to optimize their image-making capabilities Most consumer drones are fairly wide-angled when it comes to the pictures they make so the next development will be longer lenses on very small drones That’s the difference between a general view and high-definition close-up What do you want people to take away from this book a lot of people don’t even know how their cameras work they just pull out their phone and take a picture But if you think back at those early years of aerial photography everything had to be exact — down to the temperature of the camera and film Can you imagine how cold it is up there and how that would affect your equipment in those early years I hope people are intrigued by all of these incredible developments in technology over the last 150 years and realize that without these pioneers we wouldn’t be able to use something as common today as the cameras on our mobile phone that we have the technology that have today I think we owe these individuals a debt of gratitude Photographer unknown, Manhattan, New York Left: Photographer unknown, The inauguration of Barack Obama, 2009. Right: Photographer unknown, The inauguration of Donald Trump Balloon mapping to temporarily stall eviction proceedings