George Steinmetz

Detroit, known as Motor City, once the fourth largest city in the United States, home of the Ford Motor Company, General Motors and other major car manufacturers, is nowadays a city in serious decline, which has lost more than half its population and much of its real estate. Until recently, residents would celebrate'Devil's Night' on the eve of Halloween by going out and setting fire to dilapidated buildings. Houses, factories, stores, office blocks, theatres, even the railway station, stand in ruins or have disappeared altogether, leaving vast empty lots that have returned to nature. The home of Motown music, Detroit is also the most segregated major city in the United States, and one of the poorest, struggling to provide public services for its needy inhabitants.

Flying in a motorized paraglider over one of the most diverse continents in the world, George Steinmetz captures the stunning beauty of Africa's landscapes and people. His pictures show not only the spectacular patterns of the land, but also the potential and hope that the continent encompasses. Steinmetz made his first trip to Africa while in college, and spent two and a half years hitch-hiking across the continent. "I didn't have a goal to change Africa. I just wanted to marinate in it," he said. A self-taught photographer, Steinmetz has traveled through more than 30 countries in Africa photographing its diverse wildlife, landscape and culture. For the past decade much of his work has involved flying a ultralight aircraft to photograph remote landscapes. His foot-launched aircraft consists of a backpack motor and paraglider-style wing. It is the world's lightest and slowest motorized aircraft and allows a unique and more intimate style of aerial photograph