William Garnett was first to concentrate on high-quality creative images from above. He was the photographer for the Pasadena Police Department, before being drafted in World War II and trained as a Signal Corps cinematographer. When the war ended, Garnett hitched a ride on a military transport from the East Coast to California. “The airplane was full,” he later reminisced, “but the captain let me sit in the navigator’s seat so I had a command view. I was amazed at the variety and beauty of these United States. . . . I changed my career.” With G.I. Bill benefits Garnett learned to fly and secured a pilot’s license. He bought his first plane in 1947, and forged his own methods for photographing from aloft. Without a familiar, organizing horizon Garnett’s landscapes seem abstract. In this image of the apex of a pyramidal sand dune, light and shadow define topography and texture, and the natural design seems to oscillate between projection and recession.

from Touchstones of the Twentieth Century: A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame (exhibition, 2020-21)