Six red, white, and blue fighter jets bank across a clear blue sky, leaving pale smoke trails behind them.

Geometry of Flight

MG-0458

2024-07-30

About this piece

Six jets form a broad arrangement across an uninterrupted blue sky, their red noses and dark undersides defining distinct angles of flight. Pale smoke trails extend behind them, adding soft lines to the aircrafts’ sharply edged geometry.

The story

I followed the jets through the viewfinder as their wings turned into the light. Against so much blue, each aircraft seemed both small and extraordinarily precise, its red nose marking a separate point in the arrangement. I wanted to hold the moment when their differing angles became one composition. Behind them, the smoke softened and spread, leaving a loose record of the paths they had just taken.

More from Open Skies

View all →

A dark flying-wing stealth bomber seen from below against a clear blue sky, sunlight tracing its angular edges. — An Edge of Light

A B-2 stealth bomber and a B-52 bomber seen from below against a clear blue sky. — Two Geometries Of Flight

The Statue of Liberty rises from a stone pedestal beneath a blue sky with streaked white clouds. — A Flame Held Still

Two white jets with red and blue markings pass in opposite directions against a blue sky, trailing smoke. — An Instant Between

Four white jets with red and blue markings fly in close formation against a blue sky and pale clouds. — The Shape Of Unison

Two red, white and blue U.S. Air Force jets fly in parallel against blue sky, the upper aircraft inverted. — A Balance Of Wings