The Lawrence Captive Airship Over San Francisco in 1906 and 1908

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Undoubtedly, some of the most remarkable photographs ever taken by kite-borne cameras were made by George R. Lawrence at the turn of this century. His best known image was titled "San Francisco in Ruins" and was taken on May 28, 1906, just a few weeks after the 1906 earthquake. He and his crew rushed to the devastated city as soon as possible from Chicago after hearing the news. His objective was to photograph the destruction and sell the huge contact prints made with a panoramic camera of his own design and construction. He was a professional photographer who earned his livelihood by carrying out photographic assignments for others and also covering newsworthy events on his own and selling prints to the public. The world wide impact of the San Francisco earthquake and fire was such that he knew there would be a great market for the unique aerial views he could make with the Captive Airship.

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                A city in ruins: Stunning photo taken from kite that captures devastation from 1906 earthquake in San Francisco

This rarely seen image of the city of San Fransisco lying in ruins after the devastating earthquake of 1906 was captured by an ingenious photographer using a camera attached to kites.

The panoramic shot, which is of outstanding quality considering the basic equipment available, shows the full scale of the disaster which claimed the lives of over 3,000, injured 225,000 and caused $400,000,000 worth of property damage.

Commercial photographer George Lawrence, who used home-made large format cameras, was well known at the time for his wide angle photographs of banqueting groups, national political conventions, and state legislature sessions.

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