A fishmonger carries a shark on his motorcycle in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia August 25, 2016. (Photo by Iggoy el Fitra/Reuters/Antara Foto)

A vendor sleeps at his vegetables shop at a main market in Colombo, Sri Lanka May 31, 2016. (Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)

A father crosses a road with his twin daughters in Shanghai, China September 28, 2018. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

A youth rides his bicycle at Times Square, in New York City, U.S., August 14, 2019. (Photo by Lucas Landau/Reuters)

A vendor sleeps as his son waits for customers at their roadside vegetable shop in New Delhi, February 12, 2019. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

Weimaraner with his owner enjoys riding on a Vespa in Belgrade on April 19, 2025. (Photo by Milan Maricic/ATAImages)

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.

David Hall’s photographs of scenery and creatures off the coast of Canada in the Pacific Northwest portray serenity under the water, which belie the extreme challenges he faces to get his images. For each shoot, Hall wears a dry suit, a neoprene body suit that covers all of his body but his head and traps air inside to keep him warm. Water temperature in Canada’s British Columbia typically ranges between 45 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Photo: Moon jellyfish and cross jellies. (Photo by David Hall)