The Shape of Flight

About this piece

Three Blue Angels aircraft cross a vivid blue sky in a coordinated bank, their undersides marked with yellow U.S. Navy lettering. Repeated wing angles and slender smoke trails give the composition a strong diagonal rhythm, balanced by the open space around them.

The story

I followed the three aircraft through the viewfinder as their wings tilted into the same angle. Against so much blue, the yellow markings became bright strokes, and the smoke traced paths that were already beginning to dissolve. I wanted to hold that brief arrangement: three separate machines, one shared gesture. For an instant, the space between them seemed as carefully shaped as the wings themselves.