Oblivion: David Maisel

Aerial photography occupies a special place among the many segments of photography. Not only because of a history dating back to the earliest periods of photographic discovery, but also for the images aerial photographers have captured – images that would have been unattainable from any other viewpoint. Images that have had a profound impact both on how we view ourselves and how we view the world around us.

The Santa Barbara Museum of Art illustrates such an intense view of the world, or at least that which is defined by the urban area of Los Angeles, in this exhibition. These large scale images by San Francisco-based photographer David Maisel are printed as negatives rather than positives, providing views of a city that is nearly the size of Ireland with more than 15 million inhabitants, as startlingly quiet, intimate, and eerily beautiful. In essence, these photographs provide x-rays of a city’s anatomy – topographies of frenzy and alienation – making them all the more frightening as claustrophobic expanses.

From earliest times humankind has held a fascination with the view from above, especially those of urban landscapes. Not long after the discovery of photography, pioneers in the field began to turn their attention to the aerial view. The first to successfully accomplish this feat was Gaspar Felix Tournachon or "Nadar" in 1858 when he photographed the houses of the French village of Petit-Becetre from a balloon tethered at a height of 80 meters. That first image has unfortunately been lost, but Nadar went on with his experiments becoming the first to photograph Paris from a balloon in 1868. In 1860, not long after Nadar's first attempts, James Wallace Black was successful in photographing Boston from a balloon. This is the oldest aerial photograph know to still exist.

Maisel’s images are truly breathtaking and thought-provoking, following in the tradition of those photographic pioneers who provide us a unique look at the world in which we exist.

Oblivion: David Maisel