Paul Bowen
Paul Bowen is a commercial photographer from Wichita, Kansas, who has been shooting aerial photography since 1972. He was one of the 60 professional photographers who make up Canon’s “Explorers of Light” program. All of his pictures are photos of aircraft, which he takes while being perched in the open tail-gunner’s position of a World War II B-25 bomber, strapped in thousands of feet up. The job of taking pictures of moving airplanes is a tough one. The way he achieves this task is through the use of his headset and microphone, which connect him to the B-25′s pilot, who relays directions to the crew of the airplane Paul is photographing. As the target plane gets closer, Paul directs them with hand signals. My dad would be glad to meet him because he’s hoping for a helicopter of his own. And since Paul also takes pictures of helicopters, I’m sure he’d guide my dad through the right direction of affording one in today’s tough economic times. The way the flying vehicles appear on camera sure look amazing. They look even cooler when they’re airborne and thousands of feet above the ground. What I find fascinating about his photos are the colors that stand out from the background. For my book, I’m going for a similar approach, but with slight close-ups and fondness for technology. I’m more of an animation enthusiast, yet I know how cool objects can be when they’re positioned in a way that satisfies me. All in all, I love to show everyone that my grasp of the world around me is a colorful one.
