For the April 8 total solar eclipse, photographer Levi Mandel traveled to Buffalo, New York, to observe the celestial event—and the many others who journeyed for it. Below, he shares the experience through text and photos.
In August of 2017, I left New York City for Washington state to see my first solar eclipse. Dubbed “The Great American Eclipse” by savvy social media users, this was going to be the first such event since smartphones and Instagram became the staples that they are today. Millions of Americans traveled to witness the event, which had a narrow ‘path of totality’ corridor of 70 miles stretching from Oregon to South Carolina. Being a Pacific Northwest local, and a lover of all things celestial, I made the voyage out west.
I naively underestimated the traffic, so I never made it to Oregon, instead ending up on the south side of Mount Rainier in an area appropriately called Paradise. It wasn’t in the path of totality, but we were still promised partial coverage. Witnessing that eclipse, even without totality, was bewitching.
That evening I wrote in my journal, “Watched our moon slowly cover the sun from 5,400 feet on Rainier this afternoon. I feel electrified like never before. Critical to find a way to experience totality in 2024.” Fortunately for me, the 2024 eclipse was set to cover several areas adjacent to my home, including Buffalo, NY, home to Niagara Falls, which harnesses a natural power of her own. In 2023 I secured the cheapest hotel I could find, committing to a rate three times what it would typically cost; 13 months later the car was packed, my podcasts were downloaded, and I was on the road making the seven-hour drive, trying to beat the traffic (some states had preemptively declared states of emergency).
I arrived on Sunday. Though I’ve been to Niagara Falls several times before, I have never seen it so packed in my life. I paid $25 to park in an unmarked lot, then made my way toward The Falls, past vendors selling eclipse t-shirts with slogans like “I SURVIVED THE 2024 ECLIPSE” and “TOTAL ECLIPSE OF MY HEART, BUFFALO 2024.” The scene felt a lot like a concert tailgate with a camaraderie among the eclectic crowd. Children and adults, hipsters and nature-nerds, all brought together by something bigger than us all.
