Fig. 189.—A portion of Vienna seen from the air, during a “propaganda raid.”
Italian official photograph.
Fig. 190.—The Rialto bridge, Venice.
Italian Air Service photograph.
Fig. 191.—A partly developed suburb.
A vertical aerial photograph is most closely akin to a map, but has advantages over any ordinary surveyor's product. As a guide it is infinitely superior to the best draftsman's diagram, for it provides a wealth of detail whereby the traveller may definitely locate himself. At a single glance he notes the objects of interest within his radius of easy travel. The guide-book of the future will therefore be incomplete without numerous aerial views, both vertical and oblique. As an illustration of the peculiar merit of the view from the air, consider the photograph of Vienna made during d'Annunzio's “propaganda” bombardment. Or the picture of the Rialto bridge (Fig. [190]). No ordinary photograph from land or water suggests the central roadway and no map shows the beauty of its elevation. Both are shown here, as well as an intimate view of the arched and pillared courtyard of the Fondaco de' Tedeschi to the right.
Fig. 192.—A sea-side resort.
Fig. 193.—A bathing beach seen from the air.