Before Drone Cameras: Kite Cameras!
![Ruins of San Francisco, 500 feet above Hyde and Green streets. Ruins of San Francisco, 500 feet above Hyde and Green streets.](http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/01/14/geo-law-2_custom-254b594b5803f4fbc43f397f1969369a79b77250-s40-c85.jpg)
Ruins of San Francisco, 500 feet above Hyde and Green streets.
George R. Lawrence, a commercial photographer at the turn of the last century, was known to tinker. (His Chicago studio advertised "The hitherto impossible in photography is our specialty.") He was often hired to photograph conventions and banquet halls with a specialized panoramic camera he had built himself. In 1901, he had a loftier idea: to lift his panoramic camera off the ground. And not just a few feet — but hundreds.
![International ballooning contest, Aero Park, Chicago, July 4, 1908. International ballooning contest, Aero Park, Chicago, July 4, 1908.](http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/01/14/6a34405u_custom-382a6c42a69d99a15aadcda50bf6fb36165671cc-s40-c85.jpg)
International ballooning contest, Aero Park, Chicago, July 4, 1908.
![View of New York City from the Times Building. View of New York City from the Times Building.](http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/01/14/6a34519u_custom-12be2445d6533e3c8c7ffe54a38222c790746a6b-s40-c85.jpg)
View of New York City from the Times Building.
![Northwestern University Northwestern University](http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/01/14/6a34575u-1-_custom-1f640fb9ad1c14b2560d411e89d35f3ac3652004-s40-c85.jpg)
Northwestern University
![University of Chicago University of Chicago](http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/01/14/6a34615u1_custom-5d2cf414d343697ce8cfbdf7418136cd9e4772ec-s40-c85.jpg)
University of Chicago
So Lawrence tried an air balloon. But on his first assignment with it, the balloon snapped free from the platform carrying him. He fell more than 200 feet to the ground, unhurt but shaken.
![View of Chicago from Majestic Building. View of Chicago from Majestic Building.](http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/01/14/6a34584u_custom-f00de9bf9502f2e73bf3bfcefa61654bdb344e77-s40-c85.jpg)
View of Chicago from Majestic Building.
![A view of the kites in flight. A view of the kites in flight.](http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/01/07/lawrence-kites-93390c1774fbc86a3d0bf04de73ea4dc3cb1ec05-s3-c85.jpg)
A view of the kites in flight.
Soon after, he began photographing aerial surveys, sports events and news events. And in 1906, he took perhaps his most famous photograph — a view of San Francisco after a devastating earthquake leveled the city. The photograph earned him around $15,000 in sales, and attracted the interest of the military.
![Ruins of San Francisco, 2,000 feet above San Francisco Bay overlooking the waterfront in 1906. Ruins of San Francisco, 2,000 feet above San Francisco Bay overlooking the waterfront in 1906.](http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/01/14/07823u-1-edit_custom-2b86c196a8f6281e846662aca9f569ce4f576994-s40-c85.jpg)
Ruins of San Francisco, 2,000 feet above San Francisco Bay overlooking the waterfront in 1906.
![Akron Works, Akron, Ohio Akron Works, Akron, Ohio](http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/01/14/6a34570u_custom-64e06fc0bd05fd6071f477239bc0ade7738b272d-s40-c85.jpg)
Akron Works, Akron, Ohio
![Berkeley, Calif., looking east, from 1,000 feet elevation, 1908. Berkeley, Calif., looking east, from 1,000 feet elevation, 1908.](http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/01/14/6a34480u_custom-d7ae5ebdca34084de2cea70bf89ffffaafe641d2-s40-c85.jpg)
Berkeley, Calif., looking east, from 1,000 feet elevation, 1908.
![Lawrence with the 49-pound "Captive Airship." Lawrence with the 49-pound "Captive Airship."](http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/01/06/geo-lawrence-1-6bf9d2b975ed3c244e308213da28a42443283dc7-s3-c85.jpg)
Lawrence with the 49-pound "Captive Airship."
"Nobody really expects to see that level of detail from that time period," says Phil Michel, who has worked extensively with Lawrence's photographs at the Library of Congress. "Nobody else was able to do what he did at the time."
Despite his success, Lawrence didn't stick with photography for long — by 1910 he had moved onto aviation design. But his photographs remain some of the earliest examples of unmanned aerial photography, a field attracting a lot more attention these days.
You can see more of Lawrence's photographs .
January 5, 2014 February 8, 2014
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