Discover Paris like you've never experienced it before, through a fresh, high-flying perspective.

For Jeffrey Milstein, capturing aerial views is a practice he’s long mastered.

At 17, Milstein snapped his first aerial shots from a Cessna 150, using his freshly earned pilot’s license in exchange for cleaning an aircraft hangar in Southern California.

After starting his career as an architect and later running a design and publishing company, Milstein eventually turned his focus to photography.

What was truly groundbreaking for Milstein was persuading the city of Paris to allow him to photograph the city’s legendary landmarks and grand boulevards from a helicopter—a rare privilege, as flights over the city are tightly controlled and seldom permitted.

Securing permission was no small task, but with the support of the helicopter company and the backing of his connections in the art world, Milstein was able to navigate the three-month approval process, convincing authorities that the project would benefit the public.

"They gave me two 45-minute windows to fly over the city. We had to work quickly, but with a skilled pilot by my side, we got everything we needed," recalled Milstein, who calls Woodstock, New York home.

The result of this effort is 'Paris: From the Air,' a captivating collection of 200 vivid color photographs that offer a rarely-seen perspective of Paris.

Milstein’s signature straight-down shots are heavily influenced by his architectural and graphic design background, which gives his images a distinctive, structured feel.

"I’ve developed a deep appreciation for this formal, symmetrical approach, with a clear focal point and deliberate cropping. It’s both an artistic choice and something that an architect would consider when viewing a plan," Milstein explained.

What makes Paris truly unique

A stunning straight-down shot of I.M. Pei’s gleaming 1989 Pyramide du Louvre, framed by the 19th-century wings of the iconic museum, captures the essence of a plan view—an elegant abstraction bathed in soft golden light.

Tiny, ant-like figures cast long shadows that seem to melt straight down the page, offering one of the few spontaneous touches within the otherwise calm and symmetrical composition.

These detailed shots are complemented by expansive straight-down views of Paris’ landmarks and its meticulously planned arrondissements, as well as more traditional angled aerial perspectives of the city.

Milstein has also used his signature straight-down approach to photograph other major cities—his 2017 book explores Los Angeles and New York, and he’s spent time capturing London and Amsterdam from above.

What makes Paris especially distinctive is its uniform building height and aesthetic, largely a result of Georges-Eugène Haussmann’s 19th-century redesign, which replaced most medieval buildings with grand boulevards flanked by limestone apartment buildings topped with zinc roofs.

"Paris has this incredible sense of uniformity, with its stunning avenues where the light flows freely because there are no tall skyscrapers blocking it. It feels very human-scaled," Milstein noted.

Milstein photographed most of Paris' iconic landmarks, with one notable exception: his agreement with the city forbade him from shooting the Notre-Dame Cathedral, still covered in scaffolding after the fire in 2019.

Capturing the city from above, directly beneath

Milstein took his shots over Paris while leaning out of a Squirrel AS 355N helicopter, with the door removed, using high-resolution medium-format cameras to capture every detail.

"To get the perfect straight-down shot, the pilot must fly in steep, tight circles while I lean out as far as I can, holding the camera by hand," Milstein explains in the book.

Along with two flights directly over the heart of Paris, Milstein also flew over the La Défense business district, Charles de Gaulle airport (his fascination with airports and planes is clear), and the nearby palace of Versailles, where he received special permission to capture aerial views of Louis XIV’s grand estate.

Straight-down shots of the palace’s meticulously designed formal gardens present a series of lush, symmetrical compositions of green and stone that are almost abstract.

Although Milstein and his pilot, Félix Claro, faced a significant language barrier, their careful preparation and 'a lot of hand gestures' allowed them to communicate and successfully execute the mission, Milstein recalls in the book.

"We had to work quickly, as time and ideal lighting were in short supply," Milstein writes. "Once I start shooting, I enter a kind of zone where everything else fades away, and I just focus entirely on the moment."

Readers may find themselves slipping into a similar zone while examining Milstein’s photographs, which capture the rhythm of Paris' orderly streets, grand squares, and secretive courtyards.