Aerial artistry

As applications for drones seem virtually limitless, a new breed of photographers are adopting the technology to take to the skies. Fang Aiqing reports.

In 1858, the French photographer and balloonist Gaspard-Felix Tournachon, known as Nadar, took the first aerial photo from a balloon over Paris.

His photos may not have survived, yet his successors over the decades continued to practice aerial photography using balloons, blimps and dirigibles, helicopters and rockets.