This shot, which was announced the winner by the on December 2, 2022 came top in the People and Nature category of the British Ecological Society’s Capturing Ecology photography competition. (Photo by British Ecological Society)

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.

Kamaz Russian driver Eduard Nikolaev, co- driver Evgeny Yakovlev and mechanic Vladimir Rybakov compete during the 2018 Dakar Rally' s Stage 13 between San Juan and Cordoba in Argentina, on January 19, 2018. (Photo by Franck Fife/AFP Photo)

Protestors from the Extinction Rebellion march on day six of protests stopping traffic in the city district of Melbourne, Australia on October 12, 2019. (Photo by ydney Low/ZUMA Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A woman wades through a flooded village in the eastern state of Bihar, India August 22, 2017. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

Undated handout photo of members of Ballet Ireland during a photocall on Edinburgh's Calton Hill before taking part in the Edinburgh Festival 2018 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Issue date: Tuesday, August 7, 2018. (Photo by Julie Howden/Culture Ireland/PA Wire)

Undated handout photo issued by Take a View of the winner of the Adobe Prize of the Landscape Photographer of the Year Awards, The Daymark, Brixham, Devon, England by Will Milner (lives Oxfordshire). Issue date: Monday October 15, 2018. (Photo by Will Milner/PA Wire Press Association)

A former living goddess Kumari, middle, watches the Indra Jatra festival, an eight-day festival that honors Indra, the Hindu god of rain, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, September 13, 2019. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)