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Look up. Or not. | Scene Through the Lens

Lots more to see on the ground

April 15, 2024: There was plenty of room under the Franklin Institutes’s specially designed viewing tents after the crowds left when the partial solar eclipse reached maximum coverage - and the clouds thickened.
April 15, 2024: There was plenty of room under the Franklin Institutes’s specially designed viewing tents after the crowds left when the partial solar eclipse reached maximum coverage - and the clouds thickened.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

During last week’s solar eclipse I did not look directly at the sun. I was not among those contributing to a significant spike in searches: “Why do my eyes hurt?” (I know what solar retinopathy is). In fact, I only even looked up once (see above) and it was well after the two hours and 27 minutes the partial eclipse lasted in Philadelphia.

I was just enjoying being with the wonderful eclipse people.

Nobody was confrontational or refused to offer their name. Didn’t get a single complaint or demand that I “show some ID.” Everybody I met (and photographed) was ever so pleasant. AND clearly highly educated — they all knew what a newspaper was.

The Inquirer had five other photographers covering the event — some with really long lenses and special eclipse filters. So I had the luxury of not having to make the definitive partial solar eclipse image.

You can see those — and more — in our staff gallery. And still more wonderful eclipse people on video.

I can hardly wait for 2044.

Since 1998, a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color: