Aerial photography was first practiced by the French photographer and balloonist Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, known as 'Nadar,' in 1858 over Paris, France. However, the photographs he produced no longer exist and therefore the earliest surviving aerial photograph (photo above) is titled 'Boston, as the Eagle and the Wild Goose See It.'
Taken by James Wallace Black and Samuel Archer King on October 13, 1860, it depicts Boston from a height of 630m (0.391 miles).