Dates

• Existence: 1896 - 1974

Biography

William Preston Mayfield (1896-1974) was an aviation and aerial photographer. He is credited with being the first person to take an aerial photograph from a heavier-than-air machine.

Born in Lexington, Kentucky, he became a photographer for the Dayton Daily News at the age of fourteen. In 1910 he was invited by Orville Wright to fly in a Wright flyer. While in flight he leaned over the edge of the aircraft and snapped a photograph of Wright's hangar from the air, making the first photograph ever taken from a plane. He would go on to document many other aviation "firsts." He continued to work for the next six decades as a news and commercial photographer in the Dayton, Ohio area.

Found in 1 Collection or Record: