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Gilles Auliard concentrates on air-to-air aviation photography. His journey to this specialized realm of combining photography and flying began in his childhood in France, doing what most boys have done... building models. Later Gilles formed the dream of becoming a jet fighter pilot, encouraged by the glamor of the French TV series "Les Chevaliers du Ciel," (Sky Knights) which depicted two Mirage pilots fighting against an international spy network. In his twenties a farmer offered Gilles a ride in his Piper Cub. Gilles jokes that he was airsick after a half-hour. But that didn't deter him from pursuing his interest in aviation. He began to travel Europe, with a half-dozen of his friends packed into the car to share the travel costs, taking photos of airplanes at airshows. Gilles recalls one harrowing trip from Britany to Yugoslavia and back in 72 hours. An opportunity presented itself to Gilles to travel to the United States which he looked upon with great anticipation, since by then Gilles had been "pretty much everywhere on the old continent" in search of airplanes to photograph. He began sending photos to magazines and found them being published. Afterwards Gilles started adding captions, news briefs and then full length articles which he was able to sell. He says "I never intended to make a business of it, but the more I was published, the more material I had the opportunity to shoot. I ended up in airplanes I never had dreamed of, in all kinds of flying situations, sometimes with ill effects... it took me quite a while to overcome motion sickness." Gilles' work has been published in many magazines in France, England, the Netherlands, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, and, of course, the United States. Gilles says that his most proud achievement is having one of his photos on the cover of the Koku Fan, a famous Japanese aviation magazine. Concerning his methodology, Gilles says, "I use hand held Canon 35mm cameras with 28/70 and 70/200 lens loaded with Fuji Velvia (50 ASA) and Sensia (100 ASA). I always ask to be maneuvered as close as possible to the subject aircraft, but it all depends on the quality of the pilots. Good pilots = good pictures, so-so pilots = danger. I always work without a radio, because I spend all the time with my head in the slipstream. All I can hear is the wind. So everything has to be planned on the ground: signals, positions, headings, etc. The signal I use the most is 'come closer.' The only pilot I ever signalled to back off was Patty Wagstaff. The wing of her aircraft was 2 feet away from my nose, a little too close for comfort." Gilles' favorite air-to-air photo sesion took place in 1996. He says: "During the show at Sussex, New Jersey, Sean Tucker put up a photo-session for Carolyn Sheen, at the Smithsonian, and asked me if I would care to join her. Ask a blind man if he wants to see... Sean had managed to convince the Northern Lights, Ed Shiplay and his Mustang, Mike Goulian in his Extra, Wayne Handley in his Raven to join in. Leaving New Jersey, we headed for New-York City, follwing the Hudson River. We spent an hour and a half circling around the statue of liberty in various combinations. The return trip is also one of my best flying memories." How does Gilles decide what aircraft to photograph? He says, "I choose obscure subjects intentionally, there are many airplanes that probably have never been carefully photographed air-to-air before, and this is what I strive for; the element of surprise. My network of friends help me fulfill my goal of spreading the good word on antique airplanes, especially the ones with open cockpits... that's the only way to fly!"