Nadar (born Gaspard-Félix Tournachon; 5 April 1820 – 20 March 1910) was a French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist, balloonist, and proponent of heavier-than-air flight. In 1858, he became the first person to take aerial photographs, and during the Siege of Paris in 1870–71, he established the first airmail service. In 1863, Nadar commissioned the prominent balloonist Eugène Godard to construct an enormous balloon, 60 metres (196 ft) high and with a capacity of 6,000 m3 (210,000 ft3), named Le Géant (The Giant). For publicity, he recreated balloon flights in his studio with his wife, Ernestine, using a rigged-up balloon gondola. This 1862 illustration by Honoré Daumier is titled Nadar élevant la Photographie à la hauteur de l’Art and shows Nadar taking photographs from a balloon basket.
Author: Honoré Daumier
Figured Nadar would be pointing the camera straight down.