The Dream of Flying

Fotosammlung Silvia und Lois Lammerhuber

At the invitation of the board of the Vienna Airport, on July 30, 2024, at three o’clock in the morning, eight internationally renowned photographers – Ana María Arévalo Gosen, Hans-Jürgen Burkard, Heinz Stephan Tesarek, Jérôme Gence, Martina Draper, Nadia Ferroukhi, Ulla Lohmann, and, as team captains, Lois Lammerhuber and the author Thomas Brezina – met with a fifteen-member team of airport experts to observe and capture the life of the people at the airport over a twenty-four-hour period, honoring those without whom this technological marvel could not function. The images follow the rhythm of the airport, minute by minute.

This photography project was created on the occasion of Vienna Airport’s 70th anniversary. What a photographic birthday cake!

The exhibition The Dream of Flying opens his grand narrative from the first flight attempts and shows what humans are capable of when driven by initiative and curiosity. Failures were not defeats for these pioneers, but steps toward achieving their goals. Perseverance was their strength. The Dream of Flying is proof of what belief in the possible can achieve. Every takeoff, every flight, every landing is a reminder of this.

Aviation has a rich history in Austria: airships and early powered aircraft such as the Etrich Taube, built in Fischamend – near today’s airport grounds – at the beginning of the 20th century, were considered among the best in the world.

The Royal Airforce Base, handed over to Austria in 1954, marked the beginning of Vienna Airport. Today, around 80 airlines operate from here to over 200 destinations in 70 countries worldwide.