A flat lay is simply an image shot directly from above – a bird's eye view of an array of carefully arranged objects – and it's never been more popular, particularly in food and fashion photography.
History
The Origins of Flat Lay
The first flat lay came about in 1987 in the form of knolling, an ingenious organization method first dreamed up by Andrew Kromelow, a janitor at the Frank Gehry furniture store. He picked up things he found lying around the store and arranged them on a flat surface at 90 degree angles.
