Pacific Islands
p. 77 · Read in the full issue
Bird’S-Eye Views
Of The
A COMPREHENSIVE campaign to photograph islands in the South West Pacific from the air has been under taken by Whites Aviation Limited, an aviation development organisation with headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand Already a preliminary photographic tour has been made of the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Kermadec Islands, Lord Howe, Norfolk Island and New Caledonia and a good coverage has been secured of New Guinea and the islands to the north.
Most of the area has already been sur veyed from the air by the Allied air forces, but Whites have set out to obtain a complete library of the area for in dustrial and decorative use. The oblique aerial photography in which this com pany specialises, while not often employed in aerial surveying, has the distinctive advantages of presenting picturesque and realistic views.
Whites is well qualified to undertake this ambitious task, which will take from three to five years to complete. The company already has to its credit over 15,000 aerial views of New Zealand, a country with some of the most photogenic scenery in the world. Their photographic work in the South Pacific, samples of which frequently appear in “PIM,” should materially assist in making the area better known throughout the world.
“Certain parts of the South Pacific lend themselves to picturesque aerial views,” said Mr. L. L. White, managing director of Whites Aviation Limited, when he was recently in Sydney. “Some of the loveliest country in the Pacific is on the Nadi side of Fiji. Sigatoka Valley from the air reveals a verdant valley with a river flowing down the centre. The cane fields around Nadi and Lautoka, to gether with the Moa River, provide par ticularly delightful subjects.
“New Guinea is an island of contrasts.
High mountains, deep valleys and a tropical coastline give endless variety for the aerial camera. Madang is really a tropical picture book,” said Mr. White, “while the sun setting over Rabaul harbour, with its high volcanic cones, has produced some outstanding photographic studies.”