A vendor sells beef at a market in Hanoi, Vietnam 01 October 2024. Vietnam's official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) declined to 47.3 points in September, down from 52.4 points in the previous month, according to the latest survey from S&P Global. (Photo by Luong Thai Linh/EPA)

A Syrian man sells vegetables in front of a damaged tank in Homs, on December 20, 2024. Islamist-led rebels took Damascus in a lightning offensive on December 8, ousting president Bashar al-Assad and ending five decades of Baath rule in Syria. (Photo by Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP Photo)

A schoolgirl reacts as she wades through a flooded street during heavy rain showers in Mumbai on August 18, 2025. (Photo by Punit Paranjpe/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.

Indigenous woven backpacks called guayare are seen in front of a house in Paraitepui village, before a walking excursion to Mount Roraima, near Venezuela's border with Brazil January 13, 2015. A mysterious table-topped mountain on the Venezuela-Brazil border that perplexed 19th century explorers and inspired “The Lost World” novel is attracting ever more modern-day adventurers. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

A jogger runs on the bank of Donaukanal channel in central Vienna, Austria, September 5, 2016. (Photo by Heinz-Peter Bader/Reuters)

Each year Nikon Small World recognizes the excellence of photography taken under the microscope. The contest showcases the beauty and complexity of life. Anyone interested in microscopy and photography can enter the contest and in its 42nd year, Nikon Small World received 2,000 entries from 70 countries. Here: 11th Place; Scales of a butterfly wing underside (Vanessa atalanta). (Photo by Francis Sneyers/Nikon's Small World 2016)

A woman walks past a caricature of Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in east London, Britain November 18, 2016. (Photo by Andrew Winning/Reuters)