The Sky from the Air

I’ve always loved looking at clouds. After all these years I’m still amazed at the seemingly infinite variety of shapes, patterns, tones and colors. I have taken photographs of clouds from the ground for many years. I’ve never loved flying; the very idea makes me anxious. I discovered that staring out the window at the sky during flights helps me relax. I occasionally would notice cloud formations where a layer of clouds forms a straight horizon line with the empty sky above. These vistas reminded me of the “Seascapes” series of photographs by the Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto, where the sea meets the sky. In 2004, I began photographing cloud formations out the window while flying. I’ve continued doing so whenever I fly and can manage to get a window seat. Contemplating these scenes during flight would often induce in me a trance-like state of meditative calm or "peaceful dreaming." Occasionally, the clouds would create a scene more threatening than serene. Regardless, my hope is that these images convey to the viewer some sense of the awe that I felt at the time.