20 Amazing Aerial Photos of L.A. That'll Change The Way You See The City of Angels

Sometimes when you have a vision, you simply can’t stop till it comes to life. That’s how I see Mike Kelley.

Kelley spent more than two years photographing Los Angeles from the sky, embarking on dozens of helicopter rides (not cheap BTW) each carefully timed to capture L.A. during the golden hour, when the sun is close to the horizon and an amazing yellow lights baths the entire city.

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The result of Kelley’s hard work was thousands of incredible images of our city of angels, which he has now carefully curated and aims to publish as a new photography book entitled, “L.A. AIRSPACE”.

Here’s Kelley (via a Kickstarter video) describing his current project.

On top of the Kickstarter vid, I had the chance to ask Kelley more specifically about his mission, and how he sees his work.

Here’s what the artist told We Like L.A.:

“While it is easy to describe as beautiful, Los Angeles has a tendency to be lost in translation when viewed from the ground. Newcomers are overwhelmed with the sheer size of the sprawl and complexity of the infrastructure. Yet as soon as you take to the skies, the jumbled mass of tangled streets, freeways, construction, nature and noise begins to take on a new life. There is an inherent beauty to it all when viewed from above, an ethereal, grand, graphical and at times humorous beauty. Los Angeles from above almost becomes some sort of fantasy novel, with all it’s quirky elements combining to form something incredible. I wish that more of the city’s residents were afforded these views on a regular basis, as I know that being able to experience this city from above has led me to fall in love with and appreciate it that much more.”

Now, I know it might not be quite the same as a real-life helicopter ride over Los Angeles, but the following collection of photos that Kelley shared with us with us will undoubtedly provide you with an entirely new perspective on a city you might feel like you already knew in full.

And if the photographs truly move you, I strongly encourage you to head over to Kelley’s kickstarter (now in it’s final days) and drop in a small donation to help bring his vision of the skies to life. It seems like a worthy endeavor and I’m happy we have the chance to shine a light on it.

Either way, enjoy the work!