For six years amateur photographer Andrew Cleland has raced around Joburg to capture incredible images of the full moon rising above the city. His unique images have garnered a serious following on Instagram, and we have long been fans. Now for the first time he has compiled his most spectacular moonrise images into a 2022 calendar, on sale for R400 via his website andrewcleland.online.
Cleland’s six-year dedication to capturing the Joburg moonrise on film every month started in 2015. “I can’t recall the exact reason why, but sometime in 2015 I latched onto the idea of taking a photo of the full moon rising over the Joburg Skyline. I think I had just bought a long lens and figured it would be an interesting photo to take”.
It’s not always easy to capture the moonrise, or a moonset, on film, especially in an urban context. But Cleland was determined, and over time his imagery has only become even more spectacular.
“At first it was a bit of a hit-and-miss process trying to figure out the best vantage point to get the two, the moon and the skyline, to line up. Luckily I came across an app that made the plotting easier. A challenge though, was (and still is) to find the best vantage point for each month’s moonrise, as the moon’s trajectory changes each month”.
Chasing the full moon across Joburg has taken him all over the city, although to get enough different full moon pictures to fill an annual calendar has taken years of dedication.
“Half the fun is dashing through rush hour traffic to make sure that I get to my chosen spot on time. I’ve been doing this for six years now (cloudy conditions have often gotten in the way) and have I finally managed to photograph a full moon for each month of the year”.
If you are looking for an original Joburg gift – this is the one!
Andrew Cleland’s 2022 Johannesburg Full Moon Calendar is now on sale at andrewcleland.online.
