"Perhaps more than most places in the "Lower 48" states, the Pacific Northwest offers a wealth of subject matter for aerial photography; We are spoiled for choice, as the Brits say. We have Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands, the Pacific Coast and Cascade Mountains. I am most drawn to the mountains. In Winter and Spring they are covered in snow and in the Autumn the melted snow has exposed the dark, craggy nature of the peaks."

Tore Ofteness, Photographer

Cities and Towns 1901 - 1909

Gallery One

Gallery Two

Industry 1906 - 1909

Gallery Three

Gallery Four

The San Francisco Earthquake

 of 1906

Gallery Five

California and Nevada 1906 - 1908

Gallery Six

Misc. Subjects 1904 - 1910

Gallery Seven

Prospect Park, Brooklyn NY

Akron Works, Akron, Ohio

Nob Hill

Point Conception CA

Balloon Festival

Abandonment is part of the built environment. Objects are regularly abandoned, as seen in junkyards, landfills, and other depositories. Additionally, land use abandonment is a key marker of shifting cultural, technological, and economic forces. Abandoned spaces provide opportunities for rejuvenation through cleanup, recycling, and reuse.

Gallery Two / Housing Sprawl

Most new development across the country since the interstate highways were built can be characterized as sprawl. For residential space we see tract development of twenty, fifty, or more houses of all the same type. These patterns result in the segregation and clustering of people of the same socioeconomic backgrounds into enclaves within our communities. Sprawl has homogenized the look and feel of much of the country by diminishing regional and local character.

Gallery Three / Scale

With the aerial perspective we gain an immediate scale shift from what we are used to seeing on the ground. Aerial photography makes it possible to reduce objects and large planning areas to perfect models. There is an element of playfulness in scale shifts. Our eyes play-dancing over models for information and new understanding. We are able to conceive of relationships and recognize patterns that we never would imagine.