Country Pick / 2017 / /

Mile-High

  • Prize
  • Photographer
    Jeffrey Milstein Woodstock, NY-based Jeffrey Milstein was born in the Bronx in 1944. He received a degree in architecture from UC Berkley in 1968, and practiced as an architect before turning to photography in 2000. Milstein earned his pilots license at 17, and his passion for flight led to his well known typology of aircraft photographed from below while landing. In 2007. The work was presented in a solo show at the Ulrich Museum of Art in 2008, in a year long solo show at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in 2012. It is currently on display at the Brandts Museum in Odense, Denmark. In recent years Milstein has reversed the direction of the camera creating award winning unique aerial images of man-made landscapes that are iconic and emblematic of the modern world. His photographs have been exhibited and collected throughout the United States and Europe, and are represented in the USA by Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles, Benrubi Gallery in NYC, and Bau-Xi Gallery in Canada. His photographs have been published in New York Times, LA Times, Esquire, Fortune, Time, Harper’s, GQ, European Photography, American Photo, Eyemazing, Die Ziet, Wired, PDN, Esquire, Conde Naste Traveler, and featured on the CBS evening news with Scott Pelly. Abrams published Milstein’s aircraft work as a monograph in 2007, and Monacelli published his extensive body of work from Cuba as a monograph in 2010. His work has been collected by museums including LACMA, the Smithsonian Museum, the George Eastman House, the Portland Museum of Art, and the Akron Art Museum., United States
  • Studio
    Studio 331
  • Website
  • Instagram

A recent and ongoing series shot from a Cessna aircraft, showing the patterns, layering and complexity of cities as they appear from one and a half miles above the earth.
Ever since I was a teenager I was fascinated by the views of the ground from above. I got my pilot’s license when I was 17, and flew around Los Angeles taking pictures of the city. Now many years later I have returned to the air with much more sophisticated equipment to document the man made landscape from the air.

Photographer, architect, and pilot Jeffrey Milstein has had a love for aircraft since childhood. After graduating from the University of CA, Berkeley, Milstein used his passion for flying to inspire his art. Milstein is known for his aerial shots of cities, as well as his photos of aircraft mid-flight. His work has been featured in publications such as the NY Times, Time, European Photography, and LA Times. It has been showcased in both the US and Europe and is represented by Kopeikin Gallery in LA, Benrubi Gallery in NYC, Bau-Xi Gallery in Toronto, and ARTITLEDcontemporary in the Netherlands.

Awards • 14th Annual Pollux Awards, winner in Cityscapes for Paris, exhibition in Barcelona March 2020
• Graphis Photography Annual 2020, Gold award winner for Paris, January 2020
• Creative Quarterly 58, winner for Orlando series, December 2019
• Graphis Photography Annual 2019, Gold award winner for LANY, April 2019
• Creative Quarterly, 100 Best of 2018, 2019
• Communication Arts 2018 Photography Annual, Competition Winner for LANY, July/August 2018
• Creative Quarterly, 100 Best of 2017, 2018
• Texas Photographic Society, first place winner in Drone & Aerial Photography, 2017
• Creative Quarterly 100 Best of 2016, 2017
• One Eyeland Awards, silver award in Fine Art, February 2017
• International Photography Awards One-Shot Climate Change, First place winner in Machine Category, February 2017
• PDN Object of Desire Still-Life Contest, runner up, July 2016
• Creative Quarterly, 100 Best of 2015, 2016
• Moscow International Foto Awards, Honorable mention in Fine Art-Landscape category, June 2016
• Communication Arts 2016 Photography Annual, Competition Winner, July/August 2016
• 2016 PDN Annual Winner, May 2016
• Applied Arts Photography AACE Award Winner, April 2016
• Creative Quarterly, 100 Best of 2015, 2016
• International Photography Awards, First place in Architecture-Cityscapes, October 2015
• The Decoration and Design building 2015 Stars of Design winner, September 16, 2015
• Creative Quarterly, Fall, 2015
• Applied Arts Magazine, Photography & Illustration Award winner May-June, 2015
• Applied Arts Magazine, Photography & Illustration Award, 2015
• Creative Quarterly, 100 Best of 2014, 2015
• Creative Quarterly 38, winner in Professional Photography, December 22, 2014
• Creative Quarterly, 100 Best of 2013, 2014
• Communication Arts, July/August 2013, Photography Annual first place prize in the “For Sale” category
• PDN Photo Annual, May 2006
• PDN Digital Photography Contest, First Place, 2005
• Photo Review, Honorable Mention 2005