Two U.S. Air Force fighter jets bank against a pale blue sky, with a white, red, and blue aircraft dominating the foreground and vapor curling around the jet behind it.

The Sky Bends

MG-0454

2024-07-30

About this piece

Two fighter jets cut intersecting angles through a pale blue sky, their sharply defined surfaces set against drifting vapor trails. In Mike Gedj’s photograph, the foreground aircraft’s red, white, and blue markings anchor a composition of sweeping curves and taut diagonals.

The story

I followed the aircraft through the blue, watching the distance between them compress within the frame. The nearer jet presented its bright surfaces while the second appeared almost wrapped in vapor, its outline briefly softened. What held my attention was the contrast: metal so precisely shaped, air revealing itself in loose, wavering lines. I wanted to keep that brief meeting of hard edges and dissolving traces, with nothing beneath them but sky.

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