Photographer Shares His Experience of Capturing Aerial Images of Africa From a ‘Flying Lawn Chair’

In a fascinating Ted talk, George Steinmetz, photographer for National Geographic and climate change/global food supply documentarian, spoke about his amazing experience of capturing absolutely gorgeous aerial shots of various parts of Africa from a motorized paraglider aka a “flying lawn chair“. Steinmetz explained how his flying lawn chair worked, how high he was comfortable going (“low and slow”) and shared his impressions of the utterly amazing sights of animals making their way across the changing landscape and of the people living with and adapting to the changing political, social and environmental climate of their continent.

George Steinmetz’s spectacular photos show Africa from the air, taken from the world’s slowest, lightest aircraft. Join Steinmetz to discover the surprising historical, ecological and sociopolitical patterns that emerge when you go low and slow in a flying lawn chair.

A post shared by George Steinmetz (@geosteinmetz) on

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.