If you like photography, you’ve probably heard it being described as “painting with light”. It’s a phrase that’s been in use for at least a century, but it’s never felt more relevant than looking at this picture, which has just been named Photo of the Year at the Siena International Photo Awards.
Light is the first thing you see, and the thing that makes the…
Two consumer cameras sit among Japan’s Good Design Award top rankings, as the Nikon ZR and Kodak Charmera earn a spot in the competition’s top 100 designs. But for the eighth year in a row, the brand with the most accolades from the international product design…
We all remember the class portrait photo from our school days, and not always in a kindly way. Rows of children, arranged by height, squinting at a stranger behind a lens. Getting shouted at to comb your hair. Being berated for not smiling properly. It wasn’t…
Beyond polished performances: photographing the “quieter, unguarded” moments of ballet dancing
October 19, 2026
“Rigid” and “unforgiving”: perhaps two adjectives that come to mind when describing ballet. But that’s not Idaho-based photographer Weston McGhee’s approach to shooting dancers.
Through his ongoing photo series, Interval, he’s captured these artists in settings beyond what he calls the “polished performances” of practice studios and stages, highlighting how the beauty and emotion…
Many bird photographers set out to capture a frozen, pin-sharp scene, every feather in place. But sometimes, it’s better to go in the opposite direction, and swap clinical detail for drama and excitement instead.
This shot of a Brandt’s cormorant by Kevin Lohman…
Street photographers are taught to simplify. Find a clearly identified subject, moment or scene amidst the chaos of city life. Focus in on it, and minimise the visual clutter. Wait for the decisive moment, then pull the trigger. Alex Webb, though, does the opposite.
His…
These 19th-century selfies might just be the most important photographs you’ve never heard of
October 18, 2026
It’s natural to assume the selfie is a modern invention, a spontaneous development brought about by the inventions of the smartphone and social media. But it’s actually been around since the beginnings of photography itself. And here’s an example that more people should know about.
Back in 1898, a wealthy Bostonian photographer called F Holland Day pointed his 10x8in glass-plate…
Marbling is the ancient practice of dropping colored inks onto thickened water and creating swirling, creative patterns with pins, combs and anything else you want to stir it with. The process has traditionally been used for decorating paper edges and covers in…
Peering through the heart of a dying star, photographer Kfir Simon found a host of distant galaxies hiding in plain sight
October 18, 2026
At first glance, it looks like something out of a sci-fi blockbuster: a swirling tunnel of teal and coral-red gas, opening onto a deep, star-speckled void. The image by Israeli astrophotographer Kfir Simon was named runner-up in the Stars and Nebulae category of ZWO…
A pair of red-crowned cranes emerge from what looks like a blank canvas, in a dance of courtship across the snow-capped landscape.
With their dark plumage and red crowns standing out as the only anchors of color, the scene begs the question: how much detail can a photographer remove before an image stops working?
“The set I came away with reads more like ink-wash paintings than wildlife…
