Lines of Flight

About this piece

Mike Gedj captures an F-22 Raptor in profile, its angular silhouette set against an uninterrupted blue sky. Sunlight traces the upper fuselage while white vapor trails extend across the frame, giving visible form to the aircraft’s passage.

The story

I followed the aircraft through the viewfinder, watching its sharp outline hold against the blue. Light caught the canopy and the upper edges of the fuselage; underneath, the body remained in deep shadow. What drew me in were the white lines stretching behind it, delicate beside so much metal. In the frame, that brief passage became a study of contrasts: weight and air, hard edges and dissolving traces.