Vision of Flight

Alfred G. Buckham was born in London in 1879, the son of a coal merchant. A delicate and sensitive child, he was always interested in art and began his career in photography in 1905, joining the RNAS to undertake photographic duties in 1917. At this dangerous time RNAS crew had a 1 in 5 chance of surviving their first trip, and a 1 in 30 chance on their second. Buckham was involved in nine crashes, eight of which saw him relatively unscathed. The ninth injured him so severely that he spent the rest of his life breathing through a small tube inserted in his neck, and at only forty years old, his doctors said that if he confined his exercise to gentle walks and only did odd jobs, he might continue living. Undaunted, Buckham was determined to continue his aerial work, and after widely covering Britain was commissioned to make a portfolio on any part of the American continent, choosing Central and South America. His photographs are stunning, yet little is known of his life. Buckham's photograph over Edinburgh is held by The Portrait Gallery in Scotland, and was voted one of the world's greatest photographs by The Sunday Times. This book seeks to tell Buckham's previously untold story and reveal his groundbreaking work for the first time. Celia Ferguson, a student of art history, developed a fascination with Buckham's work and subsequently met the Buckham family, becoming archivist to the family's collection of photographs. This is her first book, written with the support of the Buckham family.