Michael Chow, AP Photo/The Arizona Republic photos.oregonlive.com
At first glance one may think that this fantastic photograph by Michael Chow is portraying the moon; but it actually is an image of the sun during the solar eclipse which took place on May 20, 2012. As the moon is passing between the earth and the sun, it obscures the view of the latter; this type of eclipse, however, is called annular because the moon's apparent diameter is smaller than that of the sun, and thus the latter eventually looks like a ring. It obviously is an amazing event to look at, but I must say that I was more amazed by the pictures themselves; the works of Nick James and Cathleen Allison are characteristic examples.
Nick James britastro.org
Cathleen Allison/AP Photo photos.oregonlive.com
During an eclipse I suppose that everybody is staring at the sky; inevitably, and predictably, so. Which is why I was fascinated to find out that some photographers were apparently interested in portraying what the world looks like in the unique light of the eclipse, as in these exceptional shots of the Huangpu River in Shanghai by Aly Song, and Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour by Bobby Yip.
Aly Song/Reuters newsfeed.time.com
Bobby Yip/Reuters darkroom.baltimoresun.com
The annular phase of the May 20 eclipse was visible from the Chinese coast, northern Taiwan, southern Japan, and the western part of the United States. This kind of eclipse is also addressed as 'ring of fire', a metaphor which is eloquently brought up in the work of photographers such as Katsuro Okazawa and Albert Cesare.
Katsuro Okazawa/Aflo/Zuma Press newsfeed.time.com
Albert Cesare AP Photo/Odessa American photographyblog.dallasnews.com
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