Swissair - Aerial Photography

Ruedi Weidmann

ISBN 10: 3858814296 / ISBN 13: 9783858814296

Published by Scheidegger und Spiess AG, Verlag, CH, 2014

About this Item

Aerial photography had a special place in the business of the legendary former Swiss airline Swissair. Walter Mittelholzer (1894-1937), aviation pioneer and one of Swissair's founders, trained as a photographer before turning to aviation. The airline had a specialised subsidiary, Swissair Photo AG, producing well over 100,000 pictures between 1931-2001, when Swissair ceased operations, and still exists as an independent enterprise, BSF Swissphoto. The photographs show landscapes, towns and villages, and mountains, but also industrial plants, infrastructures, and individual buildings in Switzerland and abroad.Swissair - Aerial Photography features around 300 striking, beautiful and informative images, revealing changes in landscape and settlements over nearly a century. It is also an inventory of lost elements making a landscape, untamed rivers, orchards, receding glaciers or vanished historical buildings that shows how an idyllic agricultural country turned into one of the most densely inhabited places over a few decades. With an introductory essay that explores the content of the collection now held at ETH Bibliothek and what can be read from these images today, Swissair - Aerial Photography provides an illuminating look at the history of aerial photography in Switzerland.Text in English and German.

Seller Inventory # LU-9783858814296

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Swissair - Aerial Photography
• Publisher: Scheidegger und Spiess AG, Verlag, CH
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3858814296
• ISBN 13: 9783858814296
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 666 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Aerial photography held a special place in the business of legendary airline Swissair. Before founder Walter Mittleholzer entered the field of civil aviation, he trained as a photographer, and the airline had a subsidiary photo company, Swissair Photo AG, which continues today as BSF Swissphoto though the airline ceased operations in 2001. The company has taken upwards of 100,000 pictures of landscapes, towns, and villages, along with industrial plants and individual buildings in Switzerland and around the globe.
           
Swissair Aerial Photographs reproduces these beautiful, striking, and informative photographs. These images reveal the changes in landscapes and towns over nearly a century, documenting the growth of city infrastructures and urban sprawl as this idyllic agricultural country has evolved into one of the most densely inhabited places in the world. The photos are also an inventory of untamed rivers, orchards, receding glaciers and moors, shrinking agricultural areas, and vanished historical buildings. With an introductory essay that explores the contents of the collection now held at ETH Bibliothek and what can be read from these images today, Swissair Aerial Photographs provides an illuminating look at the history of aerial photography in Switzerland.

About the Author

Ruedi Weidmann works as a freelance editor and publicist and is a specialist in architectural and social history, preservation of buildings, and the history of transportation.