Bringing the Drone War to American Skies
Tomas van Houtryve was reading about the thousands of combatant and civilian deaths from United States military drone strikes when he wondered what the aftermath of these bombings looked like. But when he searched — hoping to find a latter-day equivalent of Nick Ut’s 9-year-old napalm victim — he found little. Instead, he saw photos from the drone manufacturers, showing off their products soaring in clear blue skies.
“What I find odd is that unlike the Vietnam War, there is scant visual record of the drone war,” he said.
He made it his mission to capture, photograph and “bring the drone war home.”
With some financial help from Getty Images and Harper’s Magazine, which also provided legal advice about the ever-shifting state of surveillance and F.A.A. laws, Mr. van Houtryve bought his own drone online. He created a custom mount for his camera, and built a cable to link his camera to a video transmitter, so he could see the view from his camera.....
▻http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/28/bringing-the-drone-war-to-american-skies