WHO HASN’T HAD ONE OF THOSE
FLIGHTS TO REMEMBER WHEN
PERFECT SUNLIGHT AND SHADOW
BLEND TO CREATE A BREATHTAKING
VISTA OF OCEAN, RIVER, FOREST,
FARMLAND, OR DESERT? GEORGE
STEINMETZ LIVES FOR THOSE
FLIGHTS. IN FACT, HE MAKES HIS
LIVING FROM THOSE FLIGHTS—
PHOTOGRAPHING THE FARTHEST
REACHES OF THE EARTH FROM
THE UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE OF HIS
MOTORIZED PARAGLIDER.
GEORGE HAS TRAVELED THE WORLD to capture images
of nature, wildlife, and the planet’s most
remote people. He has published his photography in magazines such as GEO and National
Geographic and through his recent book—
Empty Quarter, a collection of stunning photos
from a huge expanse of Arabian Desert. Larger
than the area of France, the Empty Quarter
region of the Arabian Peninsula has been traversed only a handful of times. It’s the hottest,
driest place on Earth—and one of the most
beautiful, seen from the air. “I became captivated by Arabia’s Empty Quarter as a young
man when I read Wilfred Thesiger’s Arabian
Sands,” George said. “When I discovered
motorized paragliding, I found a way to visualize this remote landscape in a new way.”
