Air France Airbus A340-300, arriving from Paris-Charles de Gaulle
Photographer Josef Hoflehner and his son Jakob captured some impressive photographs of Maho Beach, which is located next to the runway of Princess Juliana International Airport on the Dutch side of the Caribbean island of Sint Maarten.
Taken over the course of four visits between 2009 and 2011, the photographs show planes descending thrillingly close over the heads of beach-goers and cars on roads. They are now compiled in a book called Jet Airliner: The Complete Works.
The pair shot with two 6-by-6 Hasselblad SWS cameras, and documenting the hair-raising experience was no easy task, said Hoflehner.
“It’s pretty difficult since most people on the beach are in constant movement and you have to walk or run with them if you want them in the image. And then there’s still the plane that’s coming in at over 100 miles per hour and you never know how low or high it will be, or if it will be slightly off the right or left. You only have a split second to take the shot or the plane is gone,” he said in an email to Slate.
Hoflehner’s photographs will exhibit at Joseph Bellows Gallery in California on 7 June, and at Open Shutter Gallery in Colorado on 20 June.
Check out some of his images below, and if you live in California or Colorado, do drop by the exhibitions to see them for yourself.
American Airlines Boeing 737-800, arriving from Miami International
Continental Airlines Boeing 737-700, arriving from Newark-Liberty
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 747-400, arriving from Amsterdam-Schiphol
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 747-400, arriving from Amsterdam-Schiphol
JetBlue Embraer 190, arriving from San Juan
U.S. Airways Boeing 757-200, arriving from Charlotte-Douglas
Insel Air McDonnell Douglas MD-82, arriving from Curacao International Airport
[via Slate, images via Josef Hoflehner]