Vietnamese troops march during a parade celebrating the 80th anniversary of independence in Hanoi, Vietnam Tuesday, September 2, 2025. (Photo by Vincent Thian/AP Photo)

A fireball erupts from a 16-inch gun on the battleship USS Wisconsin during a live fire exercise in the Persian Gulf, October 13, 1990. The ship is in the Gulf as part of Operation Desert Shield. (Photo by John Gaps III/AP Photo)

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.

21 year-old Chanel Tapper, with the amazing tongue and 35 year-old Aevin Dugas, with the beautiful hair was certified as world record breakers for the world’s longest tongue and the world’s biggest afro in the Guinness Book of World Records. (Photo by Guinness World Records)

A young woman cools herself in a fountain in Budapest, Hungary July 6, 2015. Over the weekend, a heat wave has reached Hungary with temperatures topping 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit). (Photo by Laszlo Balogh/Reuters)

A jet ski is seen in Praia do Norte, Nazare, Portugal on January 9, 2023. (Photo by Pedro Nunes/Reuters)

Locals look on as high winds from Storm Bert cause waves to crash over the harbour arm in Folkestone, Britain, on November 24, 2024. (Photo by Chris J. Ratcliffe/Reuters)

A grizzly bear fishes for salmon under the Northern Lights in Klukshu, Yukon, in the north of Canada on March 3, 2025. The bear makes use of the darkness because the salmon can't see well enough to swim away. (Photo by Peter Mather/Solent News & Photo Agency)