Spiritballs poster - "On March 7th"

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Affected by high altitude and sleep deprivation, we had been pushing the limits of our minds and bodies for over two weeks. We didn’t have the mental clarity to assess whether this diptych concept would really work. We had no expectation of capturing the giant Moon in the first place. After all, our first attempt five years earlier had been a failure, and the chances were very slim. Yet we tried anyway. No amount of preparation could guarantee that the conditions would be in our favor, but they were. And we were ready.

The combination of their actual sizes and distances from us creates the illusion that the Sun and the Moon are the same size. It’s fascinating to consider this coincidence. Although the Sun is much larger than the Moon—about 400 times larger—it is also nearly 400 times farther from Earth. From our perspective, both the Sun and the Moon have a size-to-distance ratio of approximately 1 to 100, meaning each is about 100 times farther from Earth than its own diameter. This ratio is what makes them appear to be roughly the same size when viewed from here.

On March 7th, 2023, we captured both the moonset and the sunset over the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. The two images were taken 12 hours apart and will remain among the most special moments in our creative journey.