The relationship between early flight and photography started with Orville Wright.
The very clear images of their experiments proved visually what they invented. Almost as soon as one of their airplanes could carry a passenger, local photographer William Mayfield was flying with a large camera. The view from above is just another contribution flying made to the 20the century.
Orville wrote about what he saw, “that once in the air, the world beneath sank away, changing familiar scenes like fields and fences into a miniature "white ball on a green billiard cloth."
As airplanes became more commonplace and important tools for the military, cameras and photographers were included. World War I flying started with airplanes as reconnaissance, so the generals could see what was beyond the horizon. Aerial mapping left behind a stunning visual record of not only the war, but the landscapes across Europe. Those images provide rich and valuable information for historians over a century later.
One of the many specialties at the newly formed Army Air Engineering Headquarters was Aerial Photography and Mapping. The lessons learned over Europe were brought back to Ohio. The time of day could reveal in the aerial images a vast new perspective. Highlights and shadows which would be almost imperceptible at mid-day came to life.
Lt. Dache Reeves received the Distinguished Service Cross and a Silver Star for his efforts making essential images in 1918, at the end of the Muese-Argonne offensive, which was crucial in bring the war to a conclusion.
He continued his photographic services and enhanced the skills necessary to better interpret the photos from above. In 1923 he patented a device for interpreting aerial photography and in 1927, his book "Aerial photographs, characteristics and military applications" was published.
It turns out that Reeves had a personal interest in archeology and was able to combine that interest with his experience and knowledge of looking at the world from above. Ohio was rich with regions to study.
He started working with the Ohio Historical Society and carried out an aerial survey of the ancient mounds and fortifications in Ohio. In the mid 1930s The Ohio History Journal published his article, "A Newly Discovered Extension of the Newark Works."
Reeves use of aerial imaging learned in WWI and later expanded while flying from McCook and Wright Fields identified where these sites are located, which then directed expert archeologists to learn more sifting through the soil with shovels and spades.
His images and article about The Great Serpent Mound was published in Scientific American in 1936. Serpent Mound has long been an Ohio State Park where all of us can marvel at the sculpture in the ground which was created thousands of years ago.
The technology now includes ground-penetrating radar which only reinforces the images made by Reeves nearly 100 years ago.
The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks joined more than 1,100 other important places on this distinguished list. It is the first and only UNESCO site in the state of Ohio.
Orville Wright led the way. He wrote, “Viewed from above, the flat monotonous landscapes take on a new beauty not seen from the ground, the plowed fields, the patches of grass and grain, and the wooded spots appear as a quilt of beautiful colors”.
For WYSO this is Dan Patterson wishing you Blue Skies and Tailwinds.
Blue Skies & Tailwinds is sponsored by Sinclair Community College and produced at the Eichelberger Center for Community Voices at WYSO.
