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.

Geese fight during the annual Geese Fight Day in the northern Serbian village of Mokrin, some 160km (100 miles) from Belgrade February 22, 2015. Every year in the last week of February, goose fights are held in the northern Serbian village of Mokrin. Left alone, male geese, or ganders, are unlikely to fight each other, hence why females are brought along for whose affections the ganders then fight until one or the other gives up. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

On the streets of Kunming, Yunnan Province, you can find odd couple – a dog and a cat who sits on his four-legged companion. They are Vantsay and Mimi. The owner of animals, a 42-year-old retired policeman Xu Jin is surprised with so strong friendship. “When I got the dog, and I began to take her for a walk, the cat became plaintive, – says the man. – So I bought a leash and began to take her too. Soon, however, the cat began to tire and quickly realized that it is much easier to ride on the back of a dog. ”

A keen pet owner has created a series of quirky poster-style artworks – with his photogenic pet pooch as the star. Rafael Mantesso, 31, a co-founder of a gastronomy institute, from Carangola, Minas Gerais, Brazil spends his time shooting pictures of five-year-old bull terrier dog Jimmy Choo in different everyday poses – complete with Rafaels hand drawn illustrations. (Photo by Rafael Mantesso/Caters News)

“Life in War” (FotoEvidence Press) by Iranian photographer Majid Saeedi is probably the only book about Afghanistan that doesn’t show images of war. For ten years his camera photographed daily life in the context of war. His photographs reveal the humanity of a people living through decades of war. Here: Afghan men escape increasing summer temperatures by wading in the Qarga reservoir on July 9, 2010 in a suburb of Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

A visitor walks inside the initiation well at Quinta da Regaleira in Sintra October 6, 2014. Sintra became the first centre of European Romantic architecture in the 19th century, which influenced the development of landscape architecture throughout Europe. It was classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1995. Its monuments are visited by more than 1.5 million of tourists every year, according to local media. (Photo by Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

The pictures made by Elizabeth Gadd are so beautiful, tranquil, and mesmerizing, that they wash over your soul in a wave of sadness. The same sadness that you feel when hearing a wonderful piece of music. The same sadness that enters your soul when you worry to death about your loved one, but everything turns out to be just fine. These aren’t just pictures… The pieces of art that Elizabeth, a 21-year-old self-taught photographer makes, are windows into fairytales; portals into other dimensions. Works so surreal, that it makes you wonder if the scenes that you are seeing were actually shot on this planet; that they are not figments of Beth’s imagination. (Photo by Elizabeth Gadd)

If you were to meet this guy in the woods, especially if it’s nighttime, you’d probably think that it’s a local troll or a yeti. However, in reality, he’s no yeti. His name is Mick Dodge, and before deciding to live in the woods, he was a marine for six years at Fort Lewis. It is hard to tell what moved him to leave the busy life of the city and start living in the Hoh Rain Forest. It could have been that he decided the leave the stressful life of the city, or maybe he simply loves the solitary life of a hermit. Another thing that is peculiar about Mick Dodge is that most of the time he walks barefoot, hence the nickname “The Barefoot Sensei”.