Camera Aloft

Camera Aloft
By Von Hardesty
Cambridge University Press, New York, 2015
Series: Cambridge Centennial of Flight
9” x 6” Hardbound
57 Photographs, Appendices, Notes, Index
$99.00 Pp.194 ISBN-10: 0521820553
Language: English

Edward Steichen’s well-known photographs have populated the cultural landscape for decades. His civilian photographic efforts, whether commercial or artistic, as well as those taken during WWII have all been well documented in books, compendiums and countless articles over the years, and yet his endeavors during WWI are all but forgotten. This superb book by Von Hardesty goes a long way in rectifying that deficiency.

Prior to WWI, while living and working in France, he became an internationally well-known and respected photographer. With the commencement of hostilities in Europe in 1914 he fled France with the German army on his heels, returning to the safety of America.

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that, at age 38, he volunteered to serve in the US military when the United States entered the conflict. Initially seeing his role in the war as a modern day Mathew Brady, his duties quickly changed for a variety of reasons. Ultimately Steichen’s transfer to US Air Service, which was ill prepared for the scale of warfare that it would soon be engaged in, was fated to be a critically important one. As it happened not only did he have the technical sagacity to deal with some of the most difficult issues and policies facing the Photographic Section, but also his ability to work tirelessly to improve the training and equipment needed gained him the respect of career officers in the upper echelons of the military. What is noteworthy is that he quickly rose through the officer-ranks, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel and becoming the Chief of Air Photography in what would be the final and critical stages of the war. The cause and effect would impact the war and provide the much-needed photographic intelligence resources at a fateful time in the conflict.

Hardesty has provided the reader with a well-written account of those days as well as Steichen’s accomplishments and the relationship of these efforts to the context of the war. The book provides a compelling look at the man, his efforts, and the importance of wartime aerial photography.

Carl J. Bobrow
Museum Specialist, National Air and Space Museum