In 1858, French photographer and balloonist Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, known as 'Nadar', took the first aerial photographs from a tethered balloon over Paris. This invention created a new way of seeing the world, providing a perspective that had never before been captured. Aerial photography would later become crucial for cartography, surveillance, and military intelligence.

The invention of aerial photography provided a new 'God's-eye view' that profoundly influenced modernist literature and poetry, challenging traditional perceptions of space and perspective. Writers like Guillaume Apollinaire were fascinated by the new visual language it offered, representing a new way of understanding the city and the landscape. It prompted a re-evaluation of the relationship between observer and observed, a theme central to modern poetry.