The UK VELUX Lovers of Light competition attracted 15,000 entries from amateur, professional and mobile phone photographers. Entrants were asked to create a landscape image which celebrates and captures daylight. The judges have whittled these down to a shortlist of ten finalists. The winner will be announced at the end of march with the snapper of the best shot winning a trip to Norway – which will be made during the summer period when the country experiences 24 hour daylight. Photo: “Carousel in the mist”; Prokoshko, Bosnia. (Photo by Marko Stamatovic/PA Wire)

A car enthusiast races at the Goodwood Revival historic motor racing festival in Goodwood, near Chichester in south England, Britain, September 11, 2015. The three-day event held each September at Goodwood Circuit since 1998 attracts thousands dressed in period costume who watch motor racing in vehicles from the mid-twentieth century heyday of the venue. (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)

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.

A child blowing confetti from her hands during a Carnival parade in Cyprus' coastal city of Limassol, Sunday, March 13, 2016. Limassol's long-established parade is Cyprus' biggest and most famous, drawing revelers from across the east Mediterranean island. This year's parade drew huge crowds as people sought lighthearted reprieve from the bailed-out country's recession. The parade marks the start of the 40-day fasting period of Lent in the run-up to the Orthodox Christian Easter. (Photo by Petros Karadjias/AP Photo)

A pregnant woman poses on June 19, 2018 in Vertou, western France. France had an estimated population of 68.4 million by January 1, 2024, representing a further year-on-year increase of 0.3 percent, limited by a marked drop in the birth rate, the INSEE national statistics bureau of France reported on January 16, 2024. In 2023, 678,000 babies were born in France, 6.6 percent fewer than the previous year, the lowest number of births in any year since 1946. Over the same period, there were 631,000 deaths, down 6.5 percent on 2022, a year marked by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and episodes of extreme heat. (Photo by Loic Venance/AFP Photo)

Flowers are left at the scene of a hit and run following civil disturbances in the Winson Green area on August 11, 2011 in Birmingham, England. Police are continuing investigations after three people – reportedly trying to protect shops from rioting and looting in Dudley Road – were struck by a car. Police have so far arrested over 1,000 people following rioting which erupted over a four-day period across the UK. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Zdzisław Beksiński, 24 February 1929 – 21 February 2005) was a renowned Polish painter, photographer, and sculptor. Beksiński executed his paintings and drawings either in what he called a 'Baroque' or a 'Gothic' manner. The first style is dominated by representation, with the best-known examples coming from his fantastic realism period when he painted disturbing images of a surrealistic, nightmarish environment. The second style is more abstract, being dominated by form, and is typified by Beksiński's later paintings.

Beksiński was murdered in 2005.

Models of Cold War-era Allied (L) and Soviet Bloc weaponry face one another at the new Bundeswehr Military History Museum (Militaerhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr, or MHM) on October 11, 2011 in Dresden, Germany. The museum, redesigned by star architect Daniel Libeskind, traces Germany military history from 1300 to the present, including during the Nazi period and the Cold War, and also examines the influence of the military on popular culture. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)