Cheshire Cat
Yesterday, I provided a shot within the early seconds of the totality, when the world in the moon’s shadow stood still, waiting with bated breath for the seconds to tick by. All was still and silent, the whispers roaring in the absence of any noise whatsoever. As the moon kept to her heavenly track, more of the sun’s glory was revealed, whisp by whisp, trail by trail, until all of its nuclear fury was displayed.
During these moments, you are reminded of how much protection we have from cosmic events and how even the most beautiful things can remind us of our deadly destiny far in humanity’s future.
This visual “crown” to the totality sparked curiosity this morning as I did some photo editing. I wondered what was hidden by the exposures I took, the collision between shutter speed, ISO, focus, and position, and as I looked through the assembled raw photos, this particular image stood out.
Now, there’s some manipulation to this photo in full disclosure. I’ve lessened the exposure, removed the shadows, and essentially brought forth the hidden-yet-seen portions of this eclipse. The radiance you see, the trails of plasma against a cloudless sky, and the stark blackness of the moon occluding the sun are all captured yet hidden without pushing and pulling light and dark. That’s the inherent beauty of this type of moment: uncovering from the light and dark those things which seek to remain hidden.
The challenge is understanding which levers or sliders to change and which to leave alone. It’s far too easy to push too far, to engage with undue creativity in spaces where just enough is good enough. This plays to the adage of “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should,” which, when applied to photography, can be seen almost daily. Regardless, sometimes you need to push and pull at the images to tease out what lies in the verges and gutters of the sensor and have a complete perspective on what was captured.
Photography is always a historical event designed to capture in almost real-time what once was. The delay between captured light, shutter release, and commitment to a storage device is an asynchronous history. That breath can’t be taken back. The clouds will have moved further overhead, the sun or moon that much more in their celestial arcs. We hope to capture and display these moments, like the Chesire Cat’s unveiling in Alice in Wonderland (which you can imagine from the image above).
However you choose to look at the world and through whatever filter you apply, the stories that emerge from these moments always convey the meaning. You can find the smiles hidden behind darkened eyes, listen to the deafening whispers of nonverbal interactions, and engage in community without lifting a finger.
The beauty of these cosmic interludes shows us why the moments we have here on Earth are so important. We are privileged to attend this celestial ball and bear witness to the grandeur of movements and magic so far beyond our limited comprehension that it should humble us to our very core. I’m grateful to have attended and captured, perhaps in the most rudimentary ways, the majesty of our place in this universe.
May it ever be so.
