“I lean out of a helicopter at a height of over two kilometers, held only by a seat belt fastened in two places. The night is deep black, the city below me,” writes Vincent Laforet in the introduction to his new book “City Lights” about his foray into the skies over New York.
The photographer, who was born in Switzerland and now lives in Los Angeles, leans out of the open cabin door, his face is rigid with the cold, tears welling up in the wind in his eyes. “I pull the straps to be able to take pictures straight down past the runners of the helicopter and see a New York that I’ve never seen before.”
On his nightly sightseeing flights, Laforet has not limited himself to Manhattan, but has also visited Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles in the United States. In Europe, Barcelona and Berlin and the Australian metropolis Sydney were on his travel plan for his book project.
Laforet is pushing its limits
The nocturnal photo essays from a bird’s eye view of the ten world cities have been published in a large-format illustrated book under the title “City Light” by National Geographic.
The special thing about this book: the constant change. Not only do the cities photographed differ significantly from one another, but Laforet and the bookmakers at the publishing house have succeeded in constantly varying the perspectives, zooming in on details such as squares, backyards and monuments.
He also plays with the sharpness and the times of day. Because in the course of the project, he says in his foreword, he switched to not only taking photos at night, but also in twilight and backlight. Even the few shots that were taken in broad daylight give you completely new insights into the metropolises.
After all the nightly high-flyer’s trips with the camera, Laforet draws the conclusion: “New York is intoxicating and frightening at the same time. One thing is certain: Here I had the scariest helicopter photo shoot of my career so far, but at the same time the most beautiful.”