SilhouetteCaught in silhouette against an oncoming cloud front and the blue sky beyond it, an airplane tows a glider off the expanse of Harris Hill

With the winds of winter ushering in a wintry mix over the Chemung RIver Valley, the soaring season has officially come to a close.  This region is known worldwide as one of the grandest and greatest places to soar or glide.  It's officially the Soaring Capital of America and Harris Hill plays host to not just the Harris Hill Soaring Corporation, but also the National Soaring Museum, a world class aviation museum.

I feel this image captures both the grandeur of soaring and the end of the season.  Standing on the lookout below the runway, the planes are caught in silhouette against an oncoming cloud front and the blue sky beyond it, an airplane tows a glider off the expanse of Harris Hill.  With blackened shapes seemingly cut out from a Platonic thought, they're stuck between real and unreal, between the light they came from and the darkened skies that await them -their fortunes literally tied together in communal partnership.

This photo is currently printed on metal and on display in Traverse: One Gallery, Two Shows, a collaborative exhibition between The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes and 171 Cedar Arts Center in Corning, NY.  For more information on soaring, check out the website for the Soaring Society of America.