Insectarium
© Antoine Rose

Creative Photography from Up in the Air

Strapped outside a vibrating helicopter hovering 300 feet over terra firma, Antoine Rose views his playground below. Unlike other photographers who focus and click, Rose engages in a more difficult creative process:

“I have to mix all sorts of tasks in nearly real time: guiding the pilot; having the right lens; being sure that the camera settings are set up properly; concentrating on the light, the subject, the framing; discussing with the tower control to get clearance.”

Somehow he syncs it up, and the result is a new perspective in creative photography for his Up in the Air Miami series on display from February 27–May 3, 2014, at the Emmanuel Fremin Gallery in New York.

Antoine Rose shooting completely vertical aerial photographs
from a helicopter above Saint-Moritz
© Simon Cramar

It Started with a Love of the Sea

That love took Rose, born in Belgium, around the world as the official photographer of the Kiteboarding World Cup (2002–2005). Always looking for new vantage points, he developed  an aerial “onboard” camera system that was attached to the lines of the kite and remote-controlled from the beach.

The photographs that resulted were an inspiration for more aerial work. At the 2002 World Cup in Rio, Rose boarded a doorless helicopter and took his first aerial photographs of the Copacabana beaches. An “Oh, I see” moment, this experience was, in his words, “the start of a journey.”

Like many artists, Rose’s creative process evolved across years:

“It took me 12 years to fine-tune the process. Anyone can rent a chopper and take some great photography, but I wanted to take fully vertical shots that are difficult from an unstable helicopter. The landing skids are always in the frame!”

Turquoise
© Antoine Rose

Dedicated to a Different Perspective

The appeal of Rose’s vertical photographs derives from their bird’s-eye view and the technique of a fearless photographer. Surely, as Rose says, “to be strapped outside a helicopter is not for the faint of heart,” but it is what gives his work such an eye-catching perspective.

The completely vertical view excludes the sky, imposing only two fields on his compositions—the ocean and the beach. In “Turquoise” (above) the two fields are in contrast: the irregular field of the ocean swirls while the umbrellas and sunbeds seem purposely placed on the beach field, cueing a sense of calm.

Other works use only one field—in “Red District” and “Orchestra,” the beach is the backdrop for geometry at play.

Red District
© Antoine Rose

Orchestra
© Antoine Rose

The appeal of these photographs comes from both the geometric arrangements and the transformation of real-life objects into miniatures. The photographs then become more like abstract paintings that can be rotated and displayed in four different ways, according to the viewer’s preference.

Making It Happen in Miami

Miami is the fourth setting in Rose’s Up in the Air series. After three series set in the New York area, Rose wanted to try something different, more geometric to reflect his attraction to abstraction and minimalism. The hotels and private beaches along the Miami shore offered the visual interest.

Rose does not stage his shots. Instead, he wants to keep the spontaneity intact as he comes across views from above. He liked the pink monochrome look when he saw this view of Miami Beach, so appealing to the senses that he named the resulting photograph “Beach Candies.”

Beach Candies
© Antoine Rose

As with most creative endeavors, the Miami project took persistence. He scheduled his first shoot for July 4, 2013, to have as many people as possible on the beach. But the capricious weather did not cooperate, handing him less-than-optimal conditions. He returned, crossing the Atlantic twice in 24 hours, and still no pictures. Finally, he got a good day when conditions were great. . . . and so were the photographs.

His compositions are oversized panoramas, some up to 10 feet wide. Both the size and perspective contribute to a statement about the place of people, seen as insignificant dots, in the infinite space of the universe.

Miami Shore
© Antoine Rose

Ready for the Next Challenge

Last month, Rose began a new and very difficult shooting over New York City—4200 feet at night. It was –20 degrees Celsius outside, and two of his fingers froze. But flying in the dark over the city that never sleeps was magical:

“I’ve spent so many days walking around the endless streets as a tourist in New York. But seeing it at such heights (the altitude of airplanes in their final approach), you get an understanding of how tiny we are!”

The love Rose has for his work comes through. Not only is it rewarding to him when a happy collector hangs one of his pieces on a wall, bringing color and joy to an interior, but he also loves this about his work:

“The creative process and the challenge to accomplish something that seems impossible. . . . I have some projects in mind that are not possible to realize due to budget issues or regulations. I just love to try and remove all those barriers and make it happen, even if it’s a ten-year journey!” 

The night photography journey began during his shoots for the Miami series. In the creative mind, new works often stand on the shoulders of prior works— Rose’s next series of creative photography may well offer nighttime landscapes and surely with the bird’s-eye view.

His creativity, like the chopper from which he shoots, is one thing that never stands still.

Pinball
nighttime view of Miami © Antoine Rose

 Keep up-to-date on the latest work by Antoine Rose on Facebook. See all Up in the Air photos here. “Red Carpet” from Up in the Air The Hamptons was recently acquired by the Museum of Arts and Design in NY.

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