William Garnett, Aerial Photographs

To soar above the earth on wings is a wish as old as eternity. Granted that wish, what might one see? Aloft in his tiny Cessna 170, William Garnett sees shadow against light and sensuous beauty. For nearly fifty years Garnett has taken pictures of what he sees, and now a selection of his renowned black-and-white aerial photographs is brought together in one volume for the first time.

Garnett's work reveals patterns that echo nature's intimate designs—his camera captures snow geese, plowed fields, cattle trails, sand dunes, cracked ice, salt flats; and his vision transforms these scenes into art. His interest in conservation is reflected in these works, which express his desire that the earth's beauty be preserved.

More than an accomplished pilot and photographer, William Garnett is also a poet who composes while flying his silver bird. Banking and climbing, he searches for the perfect moment between camera and subject that says what he wants to say. Those moments are grandly preserved in this extraordinary volume.