There are people who dream of flying: and there are those who go flying to experience it for themselves. Andreas Busslinger belongs to the second group. He is constantly searching for the perfect picture and demands a few adventures from himself and the pilots in front of his lens. He has been travelling for over 30 years, but is still passionate about flying and photography. It's all about pictures that tell stories.
The long road to the perfect picture
The perfect picture? It doesn't happen by chance. It's the result of preparation, timing and perseverance. Andreas Busslinger had this one in his mind's eye for a long time: the Salbitnadel, a rocky peak towering high above the canton of Uri, bathed in perfect light with a paraglider soaring above it. They spent five days pursuing their dream of capturing this image. They set out three times and returned three times. The weather wasn't cooperating, the light was wrong, and the cloudbase too low. But then came the moment when everything fell into place. The photo of the Salbitnadel is one of Andreas Busslinger's most iconic images. Then there was the flight over the Biancograt on Piz Bernina. Andreas Busslinger hovered over the peaks for half an hour, camera at the ready, operating his radio-controlled model by radio.Suddenly his camera battery ran out. "I couldn't fly anymore. I went to land. It was so beautiful, and I couldn't capture it. It almost tore me apart." For Andreas Busslinger, photography is not a job, it is a passion.
Choreography in the air
He is not a typical landscape photographer. His speciality is flying with a camera, telling stories from the air. Flying without a camera? Unthinkable. “I have many photos in my head first,” he says. He brings them alive them with a team of experienced pilots. The shot is planned, often for weeks. The location is explored, the light calculated, the pilots briefed. He directs them into position by radio. Then the moment comes, and he presses the shutter. Not ten times, but hundreds of times – every few seconds.
Dancing with gravity
Brothers Chrigel and Michi Maurer are among the best paraglider pilots in the world. They have performed infinity tumbling countless times — an aerobatic figure that requires precision, courage, and trust. But this time, a special stage awaited them: the Matterhorn. The photographer had long held a vision of the image he wanted.
It took a whole day and six flights to make it happen. This was not down to chance, but to the perfect teamwork between pilots and cameraman. When it comes to photography, the top pilots who fly alongside him are not flying for themselves. “It's not about how far we fly. It's about how good the picture will be.” Whether at sunrise on the Rothenfluh or during an infinity tumbling routine above the Matterhorn, Andreas Busslinger becomes the director above the clouds.
Making desire visible
Today, Andreas Busslinger is well known in the scene. He has published photo books, won awards, and supplies images for Red Bull Illume. His works can be seen in exhibitions around the world, but his base remains Switzerland, and the view of it from the air. he always has his camera in his bag and an idea in his head. Andreas Busslinger's pictures are more than just beautiful. They awaken longing. They tell of silence, of space and of adventure. They open windows to worlds that many will never experience for themselves, yet immediately sense and imagine. "I want to take pictures that make you stop and ask yourself: What is that? Where is that? Can I go there too?" Yes, you can. But only if you're willing to walk or fly.
Andreas Busslinger is always ready. The perfect picture? Maybe it doesn't exist. But for him, the journey to get there is the greatest adventure. And it begins — like so many things — with a dream.
More about Andy
Andy Busslinger
Andy is recognised as one of the most respected of paragliding photographers, and is a teacher by profession. In his spare time he likes to go paragliding.
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