Photographer Jeffrey Milstein is known for getting stunning shots of our culture from above; we previously covered his aerial photographs of cruise ships. For his new series LANY he photographed the two cities from a helicopter. While these views don’t necessarily feel unfamiliar (thanks Google Earth!), his composition and color transform them into magical landscapes.


“I want to show things from the perspective that few people get to see, that I find beautiful and fascinating,” Milstein told Wired. “It’s that view of earth where you see how things relate geometrically, like the Park La Brea housing development (above)—you would never see that amazing, Mason-inspired geometry from the ground.”


While these urban patchwork quilts are stunningly gorgeous on their own, one of the most amazing things about the project is that Milstein shot New York and LA exactly the same way, and it’s fun to start comparing the two cities as seen from the sky.

New York’s Financial District is filled with decorative Beaux Arts towers

While LA’s downtown is flat-top skyscrapers dominated by helipad graphics


NYC’s Times Square seems to pulse with neon and movement


Universal Studios feels like a tiny, toy version of a theme park


Shipping containers are stacked in LA’s port like hundreds of tiny Lego bricks


New York’s most famous monument is just a green blob on a striking slab of geometry


Los Angeles’s low-slung bungalows are dotted by pools


New York’s city blocks of apartments still have a surprising amount of trees


Check out all Milstein’s images from Los Angeles and New York City. LANY shows are currently up at Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles and Benrubi Gallery in New York City, both through August 22.

[Jeffrey Milstein]