Total Solar Eclipse 2024 - Greenville, Maine

April 8, 2024 - 3:30-3:33pm

RE: Background & Prints

On April 8th, 2024 at approximately 3:30pm Maine experienced a monumental total solar eclipse that brought a unique darkness over the land lasting nearly three and a half minutes. This rare celestial event when the moon perfectly intersects paths with the sun casting a shadow upon the earth was experienced by hundreds of thousands. Where I was in the Greenville and Moosehead Lake Region, it is estimated that over 35,000 excited people found their special spot to view this once-in-a-lifetime alignment in the sky. Situated just next to the picturesque Blair Hill Inn, I found myself standing at a highlands elevation of about 1,500ft with a Southwest vantage looking clear into Northern New Hampshire, Canada, and Northern Vermont. Without a cloud in the sky across the entire state of Maine, eclipse chasers came from all over the world in hopes of experiencing totality. From 2:20pm to 4:40pm I had the honor and gift of photographing the entire duration of this incredible total solar eclipse. This was a self-assigned photographic project I had been planning for months, however no part of my planning prepared me for what it was like to be there and experience it first-hand. To feel the temperature drop as the shadow of the moon passed by, to see Venus appear in the sky, to see all along the distant horizon warm colors of a tone I had never witnessed before, and to look into the sky at the corona radiating from the blocked sun; it was so surreal and still leaves me absolutely speechless. How lucky are we for the opportunity to be a part of something so beautiful, so powerful, so perfectly imperfect.

As a documentary photographer I have had zero focus on selling prints over the last 10 years of my professional career. With that said, I have received well over a hundred requests for prints as a way to remember this day for so many people. Emotional tie to an image is what I strive to achieve in all that I set out to capture. With that said, I have decided to offer a limited series of images for those who long to align a visual with their vivid memories and experience from this special day. Within a week I will have a handful of images available in a couple size options for those interested along with a conduit through which they can be ordered.

Dave Dostie

LIMITED EDITION PRINTS

PHASES OF TOTALITY - GREENVILLE, MAINE