MOST OF US DREAM OF FLYING. Some of us dream of shooting for National Geographic. Only George Steinmetz has achieved both–and at the same time.

Steinmetz, 51, has spent much of the last 12 years motoring above the African landscape in a gas-powered paraglider, engine and propeller strapped to his back, camera in both hands. His aerial images are deeply saturated with color, richly detailed, and struck with a perspective that you can only imagine as you stand on the ground and stare up at the birds. In dozens of stories for National Geographic and GEO and now in a gorgeous new book called African Air, Steinmetz has captured a view of the world that’s both documentary and art, with the rare ability to surprise and impress you at every turn of the page.

The adventure began at age 21, when he left his Beverly Hills “Gucci Ghetto” upbringing in his junior year of college and headed to Africa, borrowed camera in one hand, thumb of the other stuck out for a ride. Two and half years and 20 countries later, his passion for photography and abiding love of Africa were set. He returned to the States, finished a geophysics degree at Stanford, and then launched a photography career along the traditional path of first assisting other shooters, then eventually scoring assignments of his own.

Fourth from the right, Irian Jaya, Indonesia, 1993.

He garnered work with Forbes, Fortune, Rolling Stone, and in 1986, after much stubborn knocking on the door and honing of his skills, National Geographic.

Steinmetz had first dreamed of a flying contraption during his college walkabout. Then in early work with NGM, he grew frustrated at the inability of conventional aircraft to get him to the perspective he envisioned–they flew too high, too fast, the pilots didn’t understand where he wanted to be. But he saw an out. Paragliding lessons led to motorized glider lessons, which led to the motorized paraglider. Now, a dozen years, scores of assignments, and one beautiful book later, he is, as he says, “a photographer who flies”.

Looks like you’re on the cover of Smithsonian–but as a subject. Congratulations.
I think it’s the first time I’ve been on the cover of a magazine…and yes it feels a little strange. The photo was taken by a friend of mine who is a bush pilot in Kenya and was flying above me.

How did the Africa Air book come about?
I don’t think the book would have come together if I hadn’t adopted a digital workflow. I was organizing a big shoot I had done for National Geographic Magazine to submit to my picture agents, and thought why not throw in some older aerial work in Africa…some odds and ends from different projects over the years. As I saw it all come together on the computer screen I realized that I had a pretty representative mosaic of the whole continent. I took the proposal to Abrams in New York, and then Hervé de La Martinière in Paris, who owns Abrams. When Hervé heard of my unusual method of flying and saw pictures of me with pygmies 30 years ago, he said it should be a personal book, which gave rise to the long introduction in the front of the book.

You’ve been flying for 12 years and traveling in the desert even longer. What kind of changes have you seen in the land? The people?
Africa is not a cornucopia of limitless resources. Some areas are showing serious environmental degradation, as there is little knowledge of proper practices, let alone legal enforcement. Forest areas are getting chopped up, poaching is on the rise for bushmeat, and habitat is being lost due to overgrazing or poor farming practices. I’ve also seen a tremendous growth in cities, where growing populations are sending their youth to find elusive opportunities. But there are positive signs as well, for example HIV is finally being combatted and elephant and rhino poaching for horns is on the decline, allowing those species to recover.

Taking off, Kericho, Kenya, 2005.

You fly a lot in rural, remote areas. What’s the typical response to your rig? What’s the most memorable?
The response has always been positive. People invariably wave at me to come and land near them, and if I do it creates a big splash of excitement. But you have to be careful about crowds of unruly urban boys, as they can get all jacked up and create mischief. We had one incident in Niger where a hundred boys surrounded our car as we were leaving a landing spot and they started to demand cigarettes, then some kind of gift. When we tried to pull away, stones were thrown and our rear window was broken.

Does any particular assignment stand above the others?
All have been good, but I had a pretty intensive experience making first contact with naked tree-dwelling people in New Guinea, who tried to kill us with bows and arrows. I also have done a lot of work in remote deserts, and crossing the Empty Quarter of Saudi Arabia was both a surreal and intimidating experience.

Africa Air is a wonderful compilation, but is it a culmination? Are you “done” with Africa or do you have lots to shoot there yet?
No, I’m not done. In fact I just got back from Libya last month and am planning three trips to Sudan for later this year. Africa is amazing and so big that if you tried to cover it all you it would take so long you had to start all over again to see what had changed.

Where else is on the shot list? You have two more books in the pipeline. Do you have everything you need or is there more to shoot for them?
I’m on deadline this week to finish my next book on the Empty Quarter, which will be out next fall. And the other book is my overall project to photograph all of the world’s deserts. I’ve been working on that for over ten years now, and while I’m nearing the end the horizon continues to recede. I need to cover Algeria and Egypt, and would also like to try Eritrea and, if I can get permission, fly on the backside of the Himalaya in Chinese Tibet.

Have you had any luck getting into Libya?
I had some luck, in that I got in and out of there with my aircraft, which wasn’t easy as they have blocked Americans from getting a tourist visa for the past three years. But I was only able to stay for three weeks, and it’s a big country.

What’s the longest distance you’ve flown?
I don’t know…probably about 50 miles. I have a new bigger fuel tank, and the wings have improved, so I could probably do over a 100 miles. But in wilderness areas where I like to fly, the problem would be getting picked up on the other end. Most terrain is too difficult to keep up with an aircraft flying at 30 mph. My aircraft is really best at popping up in a remote location to get a picture, and then getting back on the ground.

What’s the story about when you put down in the water?
I was flying over pods of whales that were basking near the surface of a big lagoon in Baja California when my motor quit unexpectedly. I tried to get back to shore, but hit the water about 100 yards out. I had two life vests on and my buddy Alain Arnoux was shadowing me in an outboard motorboat, so he got to me within a few minutes, before I had much of a chance to sink. It was a very expensive morning.

Wing mount over Shibam, Yemen, 2004.

You were dragged 300 yards in Iran. What happened?
I encountered some strong winds after rising up above the desert takeoff, and spent too much time taking pictures. By the time I was ready to land the winds had picked up to the point where I couldn’t maintain my position, and was flying backward while heading into the wind. When I landed I got dragged face-down across the playa, like a guy strapped into a spinnaker in a gale, except that I had a big leaf-blower on my back. I ended up wrapping the brake lines around my hand to pull the wing it. I was pretty badly banged up and scraped, but was able to fly again the next day.

What has your work from the air taught you that being on the ground has not?
From the air you can see all kinds of things that are not visible on the ground, and there are always surprises that you could never anticipate. You don’t find them every time, but as a friend of mine likes to say, “you don’t catch any fish from the car”…

Maybe I missed it on your site, but how did you come to fly? Did you learn specifically so you could shoot from the air? Did you attend a flight school? How long was the process?
I learned how to fly for an assignment for NGM on the Central Sahara. It was my proposal to shoot much of the Sahara from the air as I knew it would have incredible patterns. When the local ultralight pilot flaked out, I had to scramble to find another solution. I had heard of motorized paragliding, but dismissed it as too dangerous. But I could find no other solution, and when I found people who had actually done it, they said it was reasonable. I started taking paragliding classes near my home in Southern California, which lasted for a month or so, and then went to Europe to buy my motor and, uh, went electric so to speak.

You’ve written that flying and shooting get a little hectic? Exactly how DO you shoot? One-handed? Are you able to take both hands off the controls to shoot?
I shoot with both hands off the controls. It’s not too bad if you’re in calm conditions and up a few hundred feet, but when there is turbulence or you get under 50 feet above ground, it’s quite nerve-wracking.

Have you ever dropped anything?
I’ve lost a few lens caps and similar camera accessories, but no film or CF cards, yet.

Magazine photography, especially for Nat Geo, is visual story telling. How much of the story can you tell from the air? Do you ever feel constrained?
I prefer to do a mixed photographic coverage, as there are always interesting things to see on the ground that can be tied into what I see from the air. But I’ve had some assignments where all they magazine wanted was aerial photos, and when you’re trying to take off every afternoon and morning, there’s not a lot of time or good light to muck around on the ground.

It’s been almost 15 years since your extraordinary shoot with the “tree people” of Indonesia, tribes that had no real contact with outsiders before your visit. What’s happened to them in the years since? Have you been back?
I haven’t been back, but have been thinking about it. My fear is that I saw and experienced the best of what there was, and that what I would find now would be much less unique than that experience. I also got a little tired of working in jungles, as they can feel very oppressive and are not the healthiest places to stay for long periods of time. But once I finish my big desert project I may indeed have to go back to the tree people.

See more of Steinmetz’s work and order African Air ($40; Abrams) at www.georgesteinmetz.com. The book is also available through Amazon. All photographs and video are ©George Steinmetz.

Tagged as: aerial, africa