Athletes compete in a log carrying relay race event at Peruibe beach during the Indigenous Games, near the Tapirema community of Peruibe, Brazil, Sunday, April 23, 2023. Hundreds of Indigenous athletes gather this weekend in the south of Sao Paulo state to hold their version of the Olympic Games. They will compete for medals in archery, tug of war, athletics, Indigenous wrestling and other sports. (Photo by Andre Penner/AP Photo)

A girl swims in floodwaters in Malaysia' s northeastern town of Rantau Panjang, which borders Thailand, on January 5, 2017 Floods in two northeast Malaysian states have now forced almost 23,000 people from their homes and extra relief centres have been opened, rescue officials said on January 4. (Photo by Mohd Rasfan/AFP Photo)

An Iranian athlete warms up prior to the start of the women's karate competition, made-up of clubs and teams from around the Tehran province, in Tehran on November 6, 2025. Some 230 participants, including 5-year-old girls, took part in the competition, with team's deriving only from the Tehran province taking part. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP 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.

A Ukrainian Army liaison officer Vira, 22, plays with her rat Malyi (Tiny) at her positions near a frontline, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on March 8, 2024. (Photo by Inna Varenytsia/Reuters)

In this Monday, June 10, 2019 photo, an Indian Rabha tribal Hindu priest pours traditional rice beer to a Rabha girl to perform rituals during Baikho festival at Pantan village, west of Gauhati, India. Every year, the community in India’s northeastern state of Assam celebrates the festival, to please a deity of wealth and ask for good rains and a good harvest. (Photo by Anupam Nath/AP Photo)

This photo taken on April 7, 2018 shows Rohingya refugee attending a demonstration of elephant resistance arranged by the UNHCR and IUCN at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia, Bangladesh. The purpose of the training day is sobering – a dozen Rohingya have been killed by wild elephants whose habitat has been consumed by Kutupalong refugee camp. (Photo by Munir Uz Zaman/AFP Photo)

A five meters high sculpture “Pentateuque” created by Contemporary French artist Fabien Merelle, is displayed in Central, business district of Hong Kong, Tuesday, May 21, 2013. The artwork brings to real life the fantastical and seemingly impossible act of an average man balancing a gigantic elephant. The elephant and the man are modeled on one at the Singapore Zoo and on the artist himself. (Photo by Kin Cheung/AP Photo)