The first full-length book of drone photography of the Crescent City,Above New Orleansoffers readers perspectives never before captured by a camera. Overhead scenes cover the entire metropolis, from the French Quarter to Uptown, from the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain, from Westwego to New Orleans East, and from Gentilly to Gretna. A detailed description accompanies each image, providing insight into the history, geography, and architecture of this dazzling municipality.

As this volume demonstrates, the vantage points afforded by the drone-mounted camera reveal fascinating views otherwise unobtainable in the often compact environment of New Orleans. To me a roofscape is thetout ensemble of urban elements, writes Richard Campanella in the books preface, particularly in dense neighborhoods, visible from a perch that is high enough to be synoptical, yet low enough to be intimate. Roofscapes are the intermediary between the more familiar concepts of streetscapes and landscapes; they are the oblique, three-dimensional renderings of cityscapes.”

Capturing these views of New Orleans required the specialized equipment and expertise of retired Italian engineer Marco Rasi, who has mastered the new technology of drone photography in his adopted hometown. His adept piloting and keen eye made for, in Rasis words, the perfect platform to capture those rooftop perspectives I had always savored, as no aircraft or helicopter could ever do.

Above New Orleans: Roofscapes of the Crescent Citybeautifully documents the aesthetic wonder of the citys singular urban landscape.

By Marco Rasi and Richard Campanella