Arcalux

In her essay Total Eclipse, Annie Dillard described the moment of totality she experienced in 1978, It looked as though we had all gathered on hilltops to pray for the world on its last day. It looked as though we had all crawled out of spaceships and were preparing to assault the valley below. It looked as though we were scattered on hilltops at d... awn to sacrifice virgins, make rain, set stone stelae in a ring. Or in other words, experiencing a total solar eclipse is akin to witnessing a paranormal phenomenon and about as difficult to capture in a single photograph. Follow the likes and it is undeniable that we love landscapes. We may admit to ourselves that much of the landscape photography we scroll by portrays realities that never happened. Whether its feet out of the van, tents in precarious campsites, illicit drone shots, or simply photoshopped moments, we know not to trust everything we see online. There are, however, those rare images that change the way we look at the world, change our travel plans, and become part of our life story should we pursue them. The pilgrimage to a total solar eclipse is exactly that, because the image of a total solar eclipse on our pocket sized screen is no substitute for being fully immersed in the moons shadow as it races over the landscape at 2,000 miles an hour. With merely a concept sketch, Reuben Wu inspired us to accompany him on his pilgrimage to the total eclipse over the Coquimbo region of Chile on July 2, 2019. The drawing summed up all the ingredients that made this eclipse so unique to photograph. Most notably, it would occur only a few degrees above the horizon, rather than high up in the sky, like the one he had witnessed in 2017. Second, its proximity to the mountainous coast of Chile meant we would be able to observe the totality from thousands of feet above the Pacific Ocean. With so much surface visible to us from a high vantage point, wed be able to capture the moons shadow race across the landscape. It would be an irresistible moment for photographers ...Read More