Two red, white, and blue U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds jets fly in close formation against a clear blue sky, with the lower aircraft inverted.

Inverted Symmetry

MG-0432

2024-07-30

About this piece

Two Thunderbirds F-16s align in opposing orientations, their profiles forming a near mirror image against an uninterrupted blue sky. Crisp markings and red accents emphasize the geometry of the aircraft, while the tight framing holds their motion in apparent stillness.

The story

I followed the two aircraft through the viewfinder, watching their outlines draw together against the blue. With one inverted beneath the other, the pair seemed almost like a single shape folded along an invisible seam. I wanted to hold that brief alignment: the red noses pointing left, the tails opening in opposite directions, the narrow interval of sky between them. In the photograph, speed gives way to a moment of extraordinary balance.

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