Salt collectors on bicycles in the Salar de Uyuni
Bolivia — Aerial footage from the roof of the world
Uyuni Salt Flat, Licancabur, coloured lagoons, Sucre, Potosí — rushes available for licensing
Bolivia is one of the most spectacular and most demanding countries in the world for aerial filming. A landlocked country at the heart of South America, it concentrates on its territory some of the most extraordinary landscapes on the planet — and among the most challenging for aerial cinematography : the Altiplano, the great Andean plateau, stretches between 3,500 and 4,000 metres above sea level, and the volcanic summits of the southwest reach beyond 6,000 metres.
Our Bolivia collection was built during a particularly adventurous filming expedition, operating from the town of Uyuni as our base, at 3,670 metres altitude. We used an Airbus H3 (Écureuil B3) helicopter, specifically designed for high-altitude operations requiring power — one of the few aircraft capable of operating in such conditions. The overflight of the Licancabur volcano, above 6,000 metres, required oxygen supply for our crew on board. Footage was shot using a Cineflex HD camera with optimised settings that allow successful 4K upscaling.
The Uyuni Salt Flat — At 3,656 metres above sea level, the Uyuni Salt Flat is the largest salt desert in the world — nearly 11,000 km² of blinding white crust. Seen from the air, its surface reveals details invisible from the ground : tree-like patterns formed by water seeping through the salt, perfect hexagons sculpted by evaporation, and during the rainy season, an infinite mirror of water reflecting the sky with hallucinatory precision. Our footage also shows salt collectors cycling across the white immensity, islands covered in giant cacti rising from nowhere in the middle of the desert, and flamingos feeding in the shallow waters at the edges of the flat.
Licancabur and the volcanoes of the Puna — On the Bolivian-Chilean border, Licancabur raises its almost perfect volcanic cone to 5,920 metres. But it is less its shape than its surrounding region that is extraordinary : the volcanoes of the Atacama Puna display stunning mineral colours — ochres, reds, sulphurous yellows, basaltic blacks — across lunar landscapes entirely devoid of vegetation. Flying over this region aboard the B3 with oxygen masks was one of the most intense filming experiences in our collection.
Laguna Colorada and Laguna Verde — In the Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve, at over 4,200 metres altitude, Laguna Colorada owes its blood-red colour to algae and mineral sediments in suspension — a lake of surreal beauty, home to thousands of Andean flamingos. A few kilometres away, Laguna Verde, coloured emerald green by dissolved arsenic and copper, contrasts with the white snows of Licancabur reflected in its waters. Two of the most striking images in our catalogue.
Sucre and its surroundings — The constitutional capital of Bolivia and the best-preserved colonial city in South America, Sucre spreads its tiled rooftops and white facades from the air across a setting of green hills — a remarkably coherent architectural ensemble, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our footage also covers the agricultural landscapes and villages of the surrounding region.
Potosí and the silver mountain — At 4,090 metres, Potosí was in the 16th century the largest city in the Western world, fuelled by the silver mines of the Cerro Rico — the "mountain that devours men". Seen from the air, the hill riddled with mine shafts and orange spoil heaps that looms over the city is one of the most singular historical industrial landscapes in South America, still worked today by miners labouring in medieval conditions.
The Santa Cruz region — Amazon rainforest — In the east of the country, on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, the Santa Cruz region offers a radical contrast with the Altiplano : gallery forests, savannas and slash-and-burn farming document the transition between the Andean world and the Amazon basin, as well as the advance of the deforestation front in this region. These images also form part of our Amazon collection.
Aerial footage of Bolivia
