Jet Setters: St. Maarten Sunbathers Share Beach with Passenger Jets Flying Only 13 Feet Above

Bizarre black and white beach scenes, featuring planes zooming alarmingly closely overhead are the focus of Austria-based photographer Josef Hoflehner’s Jet Airliner, now on view at Joseph Bellows Gallery in La Jolla, California. The photographs seem like the document of another, less safety conscious era, but Hoflehner took these between 2009 and 2011 on the Dutch/French Caribbean island of St. Maarten, where passenger jets arrive and depart on a daily basis. The airport’s relatively short runway is directly across from Maho Beach, and planes dip as low as 13 feet above ground while landing and taking off. While it’s certainly not the epitome of relaxation, it is a popular tourist attraction, with local bars posting the daily arrival and departure schedules so plane spotters know when best to show up.

All photographs © Josef Hoflehner. On view now through July 19, 2014, at Joseph Bellows Gallery, in La Jolla, California.

Discover More