Incredible aerial photographs of Lima, Peru

A decade ago Lima photographer Evelyn Merino Reyna was invited to go paragliding with a friend. The rest, as they say, is history. Evelyn's was a severe case of 'love at first flight' and she has spent most of her time (and money!) since then photographing her hometown from microlights, helicopters and paragliders.

Evelyn is the first to admit that 'everything looks beautiful from above' but her project is about more than striking images and catchy desktop backgrounds. Her work has two serious goals. First, she wants to highlight the rapid urbanisation which has seen Lima grow from a small city of 650,000 souls in 1940 to the megalopolis of 10 million that it is today. Her photos of garbage recycling depots and rampant soil erosion may look beautiful, but the story they tell is not.

Her second goal is to focus on the importance of the ocean, not just to Lima but to Peru and the world at large. She is one of the founding members of Pacificum Peru, a "movement that seeks to rediscover the Pacific Ocean through an aerial photographic journey and documentary of the entire Peruvian coastline."

That's not to say that Evelyn is averse to focusing on a smaller, more intimate themes...

To see more of her work check out her Facebook page or just watch the video below. If you can read Spanish (or know how to use Google translate!) here's an interview she did a couple of years' back. All photos taken by: Evelyn Merino Reyna