1946: Children's Hour - How It's Done: Aerofilms
There was an error
This content is not available in your location.
Recorded in 1946, this report investigates aerial photography and its beginnings. Through interviews with photographers, including one of the few women photographers, and by accompanying them on a mission, presenter Alan Dixon learns more about the technicalities of this art form.
Aerofilms was the first commercial aerial photography firm, set up by former First World War pilot Francis Lewis Wills in 1919. Wills began photographing Britain in the 1920s from a biplane. He captured the images onto plate negatives. The company was recruited to fly reconnaissance missions during the Second World War. Its archive, containing one million photographs, was closed and sold to English Heritage in 2006. It has published various books on Britain from the air.