A Measure of Sky

About this piece

Four blue and yellow U.S. Navy jets bank together, their undersides forming a compact diamond against an uninterrupted blue sky. Light catches the fuselages and yellow markings while deeper shadows articulate the aircrafts’ contours. Repeated diagonals give the composition momentum, held in balance by the measured spaces between wings.

The story

On this May day, four aircraft turn through a pale blue expanse, each nose pointing along the same ascending diagonal. Yellow lettering stretches across the wings, bright against the deep blue metal. Between the jets, narrow passages of sky remain open. The photograph holds their motion still long enough for those intervals to become as compelling as the machines themselves.