Above All Else

"In 2002, I was bored on a flight to Helsinki. I had my camera with me and I decided to take some photos on the skyline below, but couldn't get a clear shot of the sky without getting a small section of the plane's wing in shot. When I looked at the resulting images, I was really taken by the beauty of this engineered machine sitting side by side with nature. I decided from then on to take photos whenever I flew. The number of images increased massively due to my traveling, and ABOVE ALL ELSE was born." Alan Aboud, March 2011.

Nine years on, the first exhibition of these images was debuted SPACE Gallery, Tokyo in April 2011. A limited edition book featuring a larger selection of images was also launched in Japan, and printed in Osaka. The exhibition is now at GLOBE at Heathrow T5 from 23rd August, followed by New York on 6th October 2011 where it will be on show at the Partners & Spade Gallery.

"Everyone takes these pictures when they are flying. They are not exceptional. What makes this project exceptional is the power of the repeated image. The same pictorial content in every image, yet somehow each time the shot is composed, one finds a new and unique angle, crop or colouration.

There is a certain calm in the images, somewhat at odds with the noise in the cabin. The noise, clutter and chaos in one's mind disappears; so much clarity and strength can be gained in flight that no problem is unsolvable. Everything that seemed difficult gets worked out in flight. Perhaps it's because you're above everything, every difficulty, every trauma."

Alan Aboud has been working with Paul Smith for 22 years: helping him to achieve his creative vision in advertising, packaging and film.

ABOVE ALL ELSE
Aerial photographs 2002-2011
by Alan Aboud

23rd August - 20th September

Paul Smith Globe
Departure Lounge
Terminal 5
Heathrow Airport