Picturing the Solar Eclipse
23 photographers show us what they saw on April 8
“This was the universe about which we have read so much and never before felt: the universe as a clockwork of loose spheres flung at stupefying, unauthorized speeds. How could anything moving so fast not crash, not veer from its orbit amok like a car out of control on a turn?” Annie Dillard
Did you see the eclipse?
On Monday, I wrote about how photographers had pictured those celestial events that preceded us on April 8, 2024, when this week’s eclipse was still hours away from gracing us with its presence. That was a fun post to write because it sent me scurrying down photographic rabbit holes, uncovering pictures I’d not yet seen, and filled me with curiosity for how people before our time had used cameras to engage with this natural phenomenon that had captured our imaginations.
No sooner had the eclipse come and gone than I started seeing my photographer friends post pictures of what they’d seen that day on Instagram. Of course, they did! It hadn’t occurred to me that a byproduct of the eclipse would be a visual treasure trove of perspectives on the experience, but yes, of course, that was always going to be the case. Everything exists to end in a photograph. That includes eclipses.
I started brainstorming a follow-up post to showcase these images and called on my readers to share their work with me. Someone linked to this excellent xkcd cartoon, which hit the nail on the head and made me chuckle. Randall Munroe is always on point, and as I started exploring the submissions, I noticed that he was mostly right: there is a taxonomy of eclipse photography! Who knew?
I’ve never shown this many pictures in a post before, and this vertical-scrolling newsletter format isn’t ideal for this kind of thing. Still, it’s what I’ve got, so I thought I’d use some of Randall’s categories to break things down into something a bit more digestible.
This post may be too long to read in your email inbox, so do yourself a favor and click the title at the top to view it in your web browser. Suffice it to say, the best way to really see these pictures is on a big screen, looking slowly, one at a time. Be sure to touch each image to view it fullscreen on your desktop or mobile.
I’ve linked to each photographer’s website at the bottom of this post, so if you like what you see, you can explore more of their work. If this resonates with you, please share it. I want more people to see these images and learn about these artists.
There’s a lot to see here. I hope you like it. Enjoy!
The Standard
Photography is like jazz: there are infinite ways to riff on a theme. I love seeing how different imagemakers approach this kind of thing; even similar pictures aren’t exactly the same, and noticing the differences is part of the fun. I love these.
Most of us think of The Standard when we picture an eclipse: a bold, bright, interstellar glimpse of the heavens. Can you imagine how primitive people would have felt seeing this blazing circle in the sky? Their minds must have been blown.
The Partial
The crescent might be the iconic shape of the moon. (When I see it, I’m reminded of my childhood love affair with Lucky Charms cereal.) It’s a bit of a mindbender that we’re actually looking at a crescent sun during an eclipse. That’s nuts!
This has been on my mind all week: we’re living our lives down here while these heavenly bodies soar high above us in the vast expanse day after day. I don’t spend much time thinking about that, but it reminds me how gigantic the universe is and how tiny and insignificant we are in the grand scheme. I find that comforting.
The Reaction Shot
Plenty of photographers turn their lenses on people watching the eclipse. It makes sense; this kind of communal fascination is rare, and we should cherish these opportunities to connect with each other. It's even better that we’re doing it outside.
One of the most endearing aspects of The Reaction Shot is how it captures the childlike wonder in all of us. As we grow older, that wide-eyed curiosity can fade, but eclipses have a way of reigniting it. Do you remember the last time you were this entertained just looking at the sky?
I still remember my first solar eclipse, sometime in the mid-’80s. I was in elementary school, and it made an impression. I love these two: baby’s first eclipse!
The Fancy Lens
I’m not a gearhead, so I have no idea if these pictures were made with a fancy lens. But they definitely exude an ethereal quality, which seems fitting since the cosmos is vast and our relationship to it is not entirely familiar. The truth is out there…
I learned something new this week. Did you see that ring around the sun during the eclipse? That’s the corona — during the eclipse, it becomes visible, and streaming plasma leaving the sun appears in unique patterns. Fascinating!
Focus Issues
Are these focus issues? I’m not so sure. My gut tells me these photographers knew what they were doing with these blurs. Either way, they’re gorgeous.
Wow, that was a lot!
I want to thank each of these photographers for collaborating with me on this. Please visit their websites! They are, in order of appearance: Kevin Serna, Daniel Acker, Adrian Vila, David Pulgar, Michael Butcher, Laura Valenti, Jason Langer, Wes Frazer, Molly Peters, Sacha Lecca, Meryl Meisler, Cassandra Klos, Matt Cosby, Chelsea Perry-Kaufman, Julie Renee Jones, Andrew Tesdahl, Alana Celli, Caleb Churchill, Adam Thorman, Chris Bennett, Martina Albertazzi, Peter Garritano, and Paul Freeth.
Should I curate more mixes like this? Let me know what you think in the comments.
One more thing…
I opened this post with a quote by the great Annie Dillard. She wrote what is probably the definitive English language essay on eclipses back in 1982. I read it again this morning, and it’s so damned good. I’m sure many of you are Dillard fans and know this essay. If you don’t, read it. You can find it in The Abundance, a recent collection of her narrative essays, and online here at The Atlantic. Okay, that’s all for now. Take care!
After seeing a parade of “fancy lens” shots your round up showed as much the wonder of the universe as the wonder of human creativity.
Enjoyed this roundup, Andy! I deliberately chose not to take pictures and instead experienced totality without my camera - I don't regret it one bit but I'm still jealous of some of these shots!