Ever since you could take a camera up in a hot-air balloon, there has been a fascination with photographing the Earth from the air. The evolution of drone technology allows new ways of seeing, not possible even from the most manoeuvrable helicopter. The German photographer Tom Hegen has been a pioneer of such opportunities. Shooting directly downwards from a hovering near-stationary drone, he can flatten out perspective to the point that the Earth’s surface seems like a stretched canvas. His images of salt production landscapes in southern Europe give the sense that Google Earth has been hacked by abstract expressionist painters.

This picture was taken above the pink lakes and white mountains of the salt industry at Aigues-Mortes near Montpellier in the south of France. Salt has been processed continuously from the marshes here since Roman times. To create table salt, seawater is channelled through 45 miles (70km) of intricate canals or roubines. The area is now restricted to visitors because of its unique ecosystem.

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Hegen says he was drawn to photograph here partly to document the brutal recasting of the landscape by centuries of human activity, and partly to capture the glorious geometries and colour contrasts. His picture is included in a new book, From Above: The Story of Aerial Photography. “I draw my inspiration from classic painters like Mark Rothko,” Hegen says. “I see all human beings as designers of our planet. And I see myself as a sort of framer, framing the artworks of the earth’s surface with my camera.”

From Above: The Story of Aerial Photography by Eamonn McCabe and Gemma Padley is published by Laurence King (£40)