Prepare For Takeoff: Smithsonian Celebrates the Art of the Airport Tower

"Just in time for the holiday travel season, the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum has an exhibit about one aspect of flying that most of us ignore: airport control towers. Those beacons of the landscape — where landings and takeoffs are orchestrated — are now the stars of some dramatic photographs."

"On their way into or out of the skies, pilots are guided by the calm voices of air traffic controllers coming in over the radio. Inside the tower, controllers are the 24/7 traffic cops of the sky and ground. As you're in the air watching a movie or trying to sleep, men and women are hard at work in their towers. They mostly go unnoticed — but not by photographer Carolyn Russo."

"On flights, Russo sometimes gets into conversations about what she does. 'I'm here to photograph the tower," she'll tell curious passengers. 'And they would just look at me like I was nuts — like, why would you want to do that?" she says."

"Russo's dramatic black and white photographs turn the towers into abstractions. They 'become art,' she says. To her, they are "symbolic objects of beauty."