Muslim women light candles during the “EarthHour” in Jakarta, Indonesia, on March 23, 2013. Hundreds of people observed the global event that encourages people to turn off their lights for 60 minutes. (Photo by Dita Alangkara/Associated Press)

A man passes by a wall with graffiti in Beirut, Lebanon, on May 29, 2019. (Photo by Bilal Jawich/Xinhua News Agency/Alamy Live News)

A woman passes a mural in Manhattan on October 27, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Johannes Eisele/AFP Photo)

An airplane passes the moon as it makes its approach to Philadelphia International Airport, Sunday, September 7, 2014, in Philadelphia. (Photo by Matt Rourke/AP Photo)

Afghans pass a clothing storein Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, October 12, 2021. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/AP Photo)

Palestinians sit in a fishing boat loaded into a horse cart as they pass on a street in the northern Gaza Strip on October 19, 2022. (Photo by Suhaib Salem/Reuters)

Children hitch a ride with a passing tram in Dnipro, Ukraine on March 19, 2024. (Photo by Jack Hill/The Times)

Light is the sole reason why life exists. It provides us with warmth; it allows us to see; it nourishes all the living things on this planet. Many painters, especially the masters of Old Renaissance Period, have recognized the importance of light and its intimate connection with nature and life itself. In their paintings they gave tribute to light, giving the impression that their paintings had a light source hidden within them. Al Hogue, the artist who created the paintings that you see before you, has studied their techniques for many years. As time went by, light permeated not only his paintings by also his life, becoming his sole philosophy.