Viewing Georgia from 3,000 Feet

Although the Losing Georgia Project has wrapped up, one of the goals that remained untouched during the documentary was photographing Douglas County’s changing landscape from the air. Acquiring the funds for a pilot and aircraft alone was well out of my budgetary means. However in February and March I had the opportunity to fly twice and photograph parts of Georgia from various altitudes.

Having photographed Douglas County for over three years in all sorts of locations, my perspective from the ground was narrow behind the camera lens. The advent of documenting information Google Earth helped broaden the images to an extent, but nothing would come close to seeing change from the cockpit of an airplane.

Outside the window of the Cessna 172 came the drought stricken George Sparks Reservoir at Sweetwater Creek State Park while visitors strolled along trails and visited the ruins of New Manchester Mill that was burnt down by Yankee soldiers during the Civil War. Then it was a trip over Carrollton, Villa Rica and Douglasville as roads spread out like veins with cars making their way about.

The experience of personal flight versus commercial flight is extremely different, yet more exhilarating. Thanks to my brother and pilot, Bryan Powell and the Yellow Jacket Flying Club for allowing me to take a look out the window. Check out all 215 photographs from the passenger seat from N552GT on flickr.