Here are the 30 mind-blowing examples of street art that seamlessly integrate with nature and inspire awe. Art has always been a way to express oneself and leave a lasting impact. Street art is no different, and in recent years, it has become a medium of choice for many artists.
Combining art and nature is not a new concept, but it has been taken to a new level with street art installations that seamlessly integrate with the natural environment. In this article, we showcase 30 examples of street art that not only blend with nature but also inspire awe and wonder.
Scroll down and inspire yourself. All photos are linked and lead to the sources from which they were taken. Please feel free to explore further works of these photographers on their collections or their personal sites.
A sea turtle glides through the water as a lone diver propels herself beside it. The moon rises above a forest so snow-covered it looks like a drawing from a fairy tale. These and other finalists from the 2023 Sony World Photography Awards capture what’s magical about nature and the world around us. Judges chose the finalists from more than 415,000 images taken in over 200 countries and territories. Winners will be announced April 13.
Some of the best nature photos in the contest appear below. For more images and to learn more about the awards, go to worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards.
The powerful solar storm that struck Earth earlier this week treated an American astrophotographer to unexpected aurora displays during a shooting trip to California’s Death Valley.
The sighting, documented in this beautiful image that shows the Milky Way arching above a purple glowing horizon, may be the southernmost of the recent aurora spree delivered by the sun storm of Feb. 27 and Feb. 28.
“I was indeed shocked to see this,” Shari Hunt, a medical researcher and part-time astrophotography tutor who took the image, told Space.com in an email. “I was there in Death Valley for night photography and with the storm in California, we had clouds almost every morning blocking the galactic core. This was our last morning to shoot.”
Related: The amazing auroras of February 2023 are a visual feast for stargazers (photos)
Strange blue aurora spotted over Sweden in amazing time-lapse
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Hunt first noticed the strange glow when she directed her camera to the north, after setting up her gear at the popular Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. In fact, the glow was so unexpected that she first thought she must have made a mistake.
“I thought I left my camera on auto white balance or something went wrong,” Hunt recalled. “I had never seen an airglow like that! So, I took another shot and told my friend who was also there to check with her camera.”
The two took repeated shots, all of which revealed the eerie glow that on the right-hand side of the image gradually gave way to light pollution above Las Vegas. The single sharp spot of light on the right is a car that appeared on a local road, Hunt said.
“After looking in post and seeing the changing or dancing, I knew we had captured the aurora,” said Hunt. “We checked the aurora forecast as well, which also helped confirm it!”
Auroras occur when charged particles of solar wind arrive at Earth in high quantities and interact with Earth’s atmosphere. Solar wind consists mostly of electrons and protons released from the sun’s upper atmosphere, the corona. When these particles carry a magnetic field that has the opposite direction than Earth’s magnetic field, the two fields connect and channel the solar wind particles deep into the atmosphere.
Due to the nature of Earth’s magnetic field lines, the particles tend to penetrate the deepest above the polar regions, which is why most auroras remain restricted within the polar circles.
The solar storm that hit Earth on Tuesday (Feb. 28) generated a G3 geomagnetic storm on the five-degree scale of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. leading space weather authority. A G3 storm, according to NOAA, would usually only produce auroras in the northernmost U.S. states. The most severe G5 category, which usually occurs only a couple of times during each 11-year solar cycle, may light up the sky as far south as Florida.
At 36 degrees northern latitude, Death Valley is too far south for aurora displays during G3 storms, as traditionally understood. However, it appears that sensitive photographic equipment is now allowing astrophotographers to detect polar lights from much farther afield, even during milder events.
The same solar storm also boosted the southern polar lights, known as aurora australis, which thrilled skywatchers as far away from the South Pole as Perth in Western Australia. Perth is even farther away from the South Pole than Death Valley is from the North Pole. Still, an astrophotographer who identifies as Shelley on Twitter said the lights in Perth were visible even to the naked eye.
Aside from the beautiful aurora displays that stunned skywatchers all over northern and central Europe and North America, the storm also provided a taste of the darker side of space weather. SpaceX had to postpone the launch of a batch of Starlink satellites due to concerns that turbulent conditions in Earth’s upper atmosphere may interfere with their ability to stay in orbit. Workers deployed on oil rigs in Canada reported that operations had to be temporarily suspended due to the storm’s interference with GPS signals, which are used for precision navigation.
The current solar cycle, the periodic ebb and flow in the generation of sunspots and solar flares, is picking up momentum. The next solar maximum, the period of highest sun activity, is expected to come in 2025, so we are likely to witness more fabulous aurora displays as well as more space weather trouble in our technology-dependent world.
Roger Deakins, in Paris, November 10, 2022. YANN STOFER FOR “LE MONDE”
Roger Deakins found his vocation later in life. Perhaps that is the secret of his longevity. At 73 years old, director of photography (DoP) Deakins continues to work on film sets. His job, although unknown to much of the general public, is essential. It consists in designing the lighting and shots of a film. And, in this field, this British DoP is one of the greatest. He has worked, among others, for the Coen brothers (Barton Fink, Fargo, No Country for Old Men), Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Sicario, Blade Runner 2049) and Sam Mendes (Skyfall, 1917 and the recently released Empire of Light, in French theaters March 1).
The septuagenarian has said he embraced this career by chance. Cinema, however, has always been part of his life. In Torquay, the seaside town in the south of England where he grew up, his neighborhood had six movie theaters (only two remain today). Deakins, born in 1949, belongs to the generation for whom going to a film club was part of the initiation process of any high school student. A sheet as a screen, a 16 mm projector and a dozen chairs arranged in a hurry allowed him to discover films such as Alain Resnais’ Last Year at Marienbad (1961) and Jean-Luc Godard’s Alphaville: Astrange adventure of Lemmy Caution (1965). No actual cinema in Torquay would have dared to show these works.
Read more ‘Empire of Light’: Sam Mendes’ ode to the consoling power of cinema
‘1984,’ a turning point
Despite studying art and then at the National Film and Television School in Buckinghamshire (northwest of London), where he was only accepted on his second attempt, Deakins did not imagine becoming a DoP or even working on feature films. He saw himself as a documentary filmmaker and also made several videos for musicians of the time. But the film world decided otherwise. In 1983, he was hired to design the photography for 1984, by Michael Radford, based on George Orwell’s book. It was then that he understood that he was venturing on a path from which he would never deviate.
“That’s when I told myself I wanted to do this job for the rest of my life. There was nothing more interesting to light than a face.” Roger Deakins
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“It’s very simple,” said Deakins. “Richard Burton, the star of the film, who was one of the greatest British actors in history – he died very shortly after – came out of his dressing room for lunch. It was the first day of shooting. We were all very nervous but he was keen, instead, to thank us for what he assured us had been one of the most enjoyable mornings of his life.”
The actor had introduced himself to everyone. “He was the one who seemed impressed. That’s when I said to myself that I wanted to do this job all my life. There was nothing more interesting to illuminate than a face. I had been in photography and then in music videos, but thanks to Richard Burton I discovered a whole new complexity.” He said he rediscovered this sense of availability and fragility in Brad Pitt, on the set of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), by Andrew Dominik.
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Here are the 20 unexplainable images that will leave you scratching your head. Have you ever stumbled upon a photo that left you feeling completely baffled and unable to explain what you were seeing? We’ve all had those moments of confusion, and it’s even more perplexing when the image is one that simply defies explanation.
In this article, we’ve compiled a collection of unexplainable images that will leave you scratching your head. From strange optical illusions to bizarre situations captured on camera, these photos will make you wonder what on earth is going on.
These images are just a few examples of the unexplainable photos that we’ve come across. They’re the kind of pictures that make you do a double-take, and then look again just to make sure you’re not seeing things. Whether you’re a fan of optical illusions or just enjoy a good mystery, these unexplainable images are sure to leave you scratching your head. So sit back, relax, and get ready to be baffled by the strange and inexplicable things that happen in this world.
Scroll down and enjoy yourself. All photos are linked and lead to the sources from which they were taken. Please feel free to explore further works of these photographers on their collections or their personal sites.
#1. Hurry up, please!!!
Source: Zui Ze Hong Quạu
#2. She’s got a leg up on the fashion industry. Two in fact.
Source: Illustrious-Fly-4067
#3. This guy putting his knee on the counter while checking out
Source: Slippery_iguanapoop
#4. Boots with flip flops
Source: cadoes
#5. Yeah, a fish head is a pretty random thing to find in a toilet, I guess
Source: DFWV
#6. Hmm
Source: reddit
#7. “Ferb, I know what we’re gonna do today!”
Source: Lopsided_Ad9145
#8. And the shoes…
Source: Barry-McKocinue
#9. This Pikachu has seen some sh*t
Source: origin_flame
#10. Also known as March 0th
Source: AnnaSophiaHubby5
#11. The bird has some skills
Source: DickDoodle830
#12. Don’t wanna be a coke-head
Source: Fabulous_Average_480
#13. Nice outfit
Source: 33Fanste33
#14. Koala
Source: Critical-Cup6945
#15. This kid is living in 2054
Source: North-Negotiation942
#16. Wait, what???
Source: ZookeepergameWorth41
#17. Good boy
Source: North-Negotiation942
#18. When they ask if you’re Bi, but you misunderstand and think they mean something about Bicycles
Source: Gangters_paradise
#19. It’s Tiny Head from the Twisted Whiskers show
Source: UnkemptHeader
#20. Damn, hope they were able to breathe while they got their face stuffed into the seat
DULUTH — Dawn LaPointe calls herself a “free range” photographer, and it means pretty much what it sounds like.
“It means I go wherever I want,” said LaPointe, of Hermantown.
Free range is different from freelance, she adds. “It’s just immersing myself in nature rather than going on specific assignments to specific places.”
Free range and also “organic,” LaPointe quips, meaning there’s “no artificial color or additives” in her photos. What you see is what she saw.
LaPointe doesn’t necessarily plan her exact photos, and she loves surprises. But the effort — and the results — are far from haphazard. She seems to have a knack for going to just the right place at just the right time to capture stunning photos of nature in the raw, from pounding Lake Superior waves, to a tiny flower blossom, to a serene Boundary Waters paddler at sunset.
The bright blossoms of the hepatica, sometimes called liverwort or liverleaf. “The rich purple blossoms of the hepatica bring a smile to my face,” photographer Dawn LaPointe said. “Each spring I enjoy hiking on trails in search of a variety of emerging or blooming spring ephemerals. Finding and photographing them feels like meeting up with long lost friends.”
Contributed / Dawn M. LaPointe
“It’s being mindful, watching the weather forecast, knowing what the temperature and the sky conditions will be … knowing when there will be some clouds to help paint some color on the scene,” she said. “Then I go prepared.”
Take, for example, one of LaPointe’s many shots of ice formations along the winter shores of Lake Superior in and around Duluth. It’s not just the rising sun, which many of us would focus the photo on. She’s also keenly aware that what’s in the foreground of the scene is also important.
Ice near Brighton Beach in Duluth at daybreak. “The bling was abundant as the sun rose and painted the thousands of Lake Superior ice shards along the shore,” photographer Dawn LaPointe said. “I composed this photograph such that the viewer’s eye would meander along the zig-zag of pink, glowing ice plates through the center of the photo, finishing at the sunburst near the top.”
Contributed / Dawn M. LaPointe
Before the sun rises over the horizon, “I think about how the light might paint that object in the foreground, maybe that plate of ice,” she said, adding that she tries to imagine “how the viewer’s eye will travel through the photograph.”
“The sunrise paints the scene, makes it more interesting,” she noted. “But there’s a lot more going on.”
At this point in March, while many of us may be eagerly anticipating spring, later winter, when the ice forms, is one of LaPointe’s favorite times of year to be around Lake Superior taking photographs.
“There’s a different feel along the shore in winter,” she noted. “I have kind of a quiet respect for Lake Superior … a humbling feeling of respect being along the lake in dramatic ice or waves.”
Sunrise over Minnesota Point beach. “Duluth’s 7-mile-long sand spit known as Minnesota Point provides interesting views during winter,” photographer Dawn LaPointe said. “Waves from storms deposit Lake Superior’s ice along the beach, and the sand dunes become covered in snow drifts.”
Contributed / Dawn M. LaPointe
One photo LaPointe posted on Facebook earlier this winter was taken at dawn, the sun just above the horizon where lake meets land, along the Minnesota Point sand dunes on Lake Superior in Duluth. She managed to capture mesmerizing patterns of dune grass, sand, snow, ice and sky all in one frame. When asked to explain the photo’s allure, she paused.
“There’s a path of color and light that runs through the photo, up through the sand dunes to the sunburst,” she explained. “It’s a journey through the photo.”
Falling in love with water and shore
LaPointe, 55, grew up in Prairie du Chien, in southwestern Wisconsin, just two blocks from the Mississippi River. She was drawn to water even then, she noted, but not necessarily to take photos.
Her first camera was a red Polaroid, a gift from her parents, which shot out the film and the photo developed before your eyes.
Her first 35 mm camera was a Canon Snappy 50, she recalls, which used film. She liked taking photos, but it wasn’t her life’s ambition at the time.
LaPointe graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she focused on political science and music, playing saxophone. She never studied photography, but her political science classes were a good prep for her current day job as a paralegal for a Duluth company.
After college she spent three years in Newport, Rhode Island, where she said she lived “like a tourist,” taking in everything the region’s seascapes and back roads had to offer.
Dawn LaPointe.
Contributed / Dawn LaPointe
“That’s where I developed a real love of water and the shore,” she said, noting she would sit for hours, in sometimes awful weather, watching the Atlantic Ocean waves roll onto shore.
She also loved the White Mountains in nearby New Hampshire. “That’s when I really started taking serious nature photographs,” she noted. “I was all over New England.”
In 1996, she came to Duluth and stayed, following her then-husband to his new job.
“I fell in love with this place immediately, especially Lake Superior, but also the wilderness of the Boundary Waters,” LaPointe said of the Northland.
Moose on Saganaga Lake in fall. “A cow moose and her maturing calves were feeding at a campsite we hoped to utilize,” photographer Dawn LaPointe said. “I enjoy creating photographs that show the natural behavior of wildlife, and take steps to avoid disturbing or stressing the subjects, whether large or small.”
Contributed / Dawn M. LaPointe
To this day, LaPointe is drawn to the big lake’s waterfront for her photography, often Brighton Beach — where the ice tends to form and morph and move — but also the sand and ice dunes of Minnesota Point and up along the North Shore rocks.
“The waterfront here is so accessible. … And the ice conditions change so frequently that it’s never the same twice,” she noted. “So I keep going back.”
In 2009, she met Gary Fiedler, a Duluth-based photographer who encouraged her to dive deeper into digital photography. (The two later married and have since divorced, but are still friends.)
“That’s when I began shooting with more intention,” she noted, and when the couple set up her
Radiant Spirit Gallery
online. “I consider myself a part-time professional photographer now.”
The gallery’s name “reflects the intention to capture and convey the radiant spirit of nature through photography, videography and articles.”
A canoeist enjoys a sunset paddle in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. “The silhouette of the paddler effortlessly gliding along the river illustrates the peace and serenity I relish in wilderness canoe country,” photographer Dawn LaPointe said. “This photograph was chosen for the ‘Wilderness Forever Exhibit’ at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, where it was displayed as a 40-by-60-inch wall-hanging in 2014-2015. The special exhibit celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act.”
Contributed / Dawn M. LaPointe
In 2014, LaPointe’s photo of a paddler in a canoe at sunset in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness was chosen to hang in the Smithsonian Institute’s exhibit marking the 50th anniversary of the federal Wilderness Act.
“That gave us a lot more eyes on our work, a lot of media interest, and that’s when things started to take off for my photography,” LaPointe noted.
Her photos have been used in many magazines, including Backpacker, The Boundary Waters Journal, Canoe & Kayak, Canoeroots, Nature’s Best Photography, Northern Wilds and Lake Superior Magazine. Last year, some of her best North Shore photography hung in exhibit in the Split Rock Lighthouse State Park visitor’s center.
A Lake Superior wave hits the North Shore. “During the memorable Oct. 10, 2018, storm, the cliffs of Lake Superior’s North Shore looked like waterfalls,” photographer Dawn LaPointe said. “The relentless waves battered the shoreline and the gale force winds whipped the spray far and wide. It is humbling to witness the power of Lake Superior’s waves and hear the thunderous crashes along the rugged shoreline.”
Contributed / Dawn M. LaPointe
Despite the quality of her still photos, however, LaPointe may be best known for a video she captured. In February 2016, LaPointe was making one of her many trips to the Duluth waterfront when she recorded video of shards of broken Lake Superior ice being pushed onto shore by wind and waves, capturing motion and sound as they tumbled and jumbled together. The mesmerizing video, “Lake Superior Ice Stacking,” went viral — viewed millions of times — and appeared on TV shows and websites worldwide. It was also a highly honored video in the 2016 Windland Smith Rice Awards.
It was no accident that LaPointe was in that place at that time. In fact, she went to the frozen waterfront expecting to see some sort of incredible ice formation. On that Saturday, a day off from her day job, she spent eight hours on the waterfront in below-zero temperatures.
As usual, she was prepared with two tripods: one for still photography cameras and one for video.
“I decide when I see what’s happening which one (stills or videos) will best convey the scene at that moment,” she noted.
On that day, video won.
Several of her video clips have been sold for use in nature documentaries worldwide. But, while LaPointe has become an accomplished videographer, she says video editing can be very time-consuming for someone with a full-time job who would rather spend her free time outdoors.
Northern lights over Saganaga Lake. “My favorite place to view the aurora borealis is in canoe country wilderness, where the skies are dark and expansive,” photographer Dawn LaPointe said. “Occasionally, the surreal scene is accompanied by the calls of nearby loons or distant wolves. Long-exposure night photography requires a steady camera, so my tripod always earns it space in my canoe and on portages.”
Contributed / Dawn M. LaPointe
For still photos, she tends to do her “editing” more in the field, using her lenses as tools, and less on the computer. “I keep my editing very simple and basic,” LaPointe noted.
That’s part of being a free range photographer, she said.
“I try to convey a natural scene,” she said. “Nature is the artist, really, and I’m just its messenger.”
Fall ruffed grouse along the North Kawishiwi River in Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. “As I was setting up for dinner at a BWCAW campsite, I heard the familiar sounds of a ruffed grouse rustling in the brush,” photographer Dawn LaPointe said. “Much to my surprise, it strutted into plain view atop the granite outcropping of the campfire area.”
Contributed / Dawn M. LaPointe
For 2023 LaPointe is embarking on a self-inspired project, using both videography and photography, that she hopes will convey her love for nature in winter in the Northland and encourage others to develop that same love.
“To inspire folks to layer up and enjoy winters in our region,” she said. “And appreciate the beauty in this challenging season.”
A frog on a lillypad. “While canoeing in the BWCAW, I was drawn to an area with abundant water lilies in bloom, and noticed a frog resting on the thick, vibrant lily pads,” photographer Dawn LaPointe said. “I steadied my canoe to capture its portrait from a distance, so as not to stress or disturb the critter.”
Contributed / Dawn M. LaPointe
To see more of Dawn LaPointe’s work, order her Minispriations calendars or order prints, go to her online gallery at
radiantspiritgallery.com
or follow her on
Instagram
or
Facebook
. You can also see and buy her photographs at The Frame Corner & Gallery in downtown Duluth, the Two Loons Gallery in Duluth’s Lincoln Park business district and at Piragis Northwoods Company in Ely.
At the counter of Leederville Cameras, in inner-suburban Perth, Jaden Watts recently dropped off five disposable film cameras to be developed.
While he’s from a generation that grew up with smartphone cameras and instant image sharing, he has come to embrace the analog technology.
“I think it’s nice to capture the memories just at the time and if it’s a bad photo, it’s a bad photo and you just accept that,” Mr Watts said.
He also likes the look of an image that’s been produced on film and isn’t shaped by camera effects or social media filters.
“I like the way they just come through. I like the oldness, how they look,” he said.
“I like the anticipation as well, the wait [for processing] is three weeks, but I really don’t mind waiting that long.”
The days when Mr Watts could have taken his film to a pharmacy or photoshop and had them processed in a matter of hours is long gone.
For Lidio Fiore, the owner of Leederville Cameras, the resurgence of interest in film has been great for the business, but also has him regretting the loss of the film processing machines he took to the tip about 10 years ago.
“About 10 or so years ago, our machines were sitting there probably doing one or two rolls of film a week, it was absolutely dead,” Mr Fiore said.
“I said there’s no point keeping these machines, they’re taking up too much room, let’s bin them.
“So we literally took them to the tip, binned the machines, and they were gone.”
With hindsight, he said it was probably the worst decision he ever made.
“About two years later, we got these phone calls going, ‘Do you do film?'” he said.
“All of a sudden, we’ve got to buy some more machines.
“And now we’re probably doing around 150 rolls of film a day, and it’s been like that probably for the last seven years now. It’s just absolutely gangbusters.
“Gone are the days of one-hour processing because we cannot process fast enough, at the moment, it’s a few weeks wait to get the orders ready.”
For Clinton Howe, who has run his camera repair business from a small office high in Perth city’s London Court arcade since 1978, it’s a welcome revival.
“I just find the whole film industry resurgence a fantastic thing, and I just hope it continues because it’s way more fun.
“That’s what I tell everybody who leaves my premises: have fun, that’s what it’s all about.”
In his business, filled with every kind of camera, he estimates he has five to 10 million parts that he can use to repair the cameras (often retrieved from parents’ and grandparents’ cupboards) that customers bring in.
He needs the parts “because I’m dealing with these cameras now they’re in excess of 50 to 70 years of age”.
“Things wear out, things get sluggish, if they haven’t been used for 30 or 40 years, they don’t work very well and they need a bit of TLC,” he said.
But he says despite their age, old cameras lend themselves well to repair.
“I’ve got two cameras at the back for restoring that are in excess of 70 years old. The other day, I sold a 1937 Rolleiflex hat works perfectly to a customer.
“That’s what I love, because they’re fully mechanical cameras that were built to last.”
While his cameras may be old, his customers are young.
“The great thing is that the majority of my customers are under 30, which is great fun to deal with, because they’re all energetic and very enthused about the photography,” he said.
“They’re always very positive about the experience.”
For Lidio Fiore, the only thing holding up the analog revival is the worldwide shortage of film.
“Getting it is extremely tough at the moment. I think we’ve got some 3,000 or 4,000 films on back order at any one time, and they’ll just send us like 100, which doesn’t really satisfy anything.”
The Fiore family started their first photography business in Perth in 1984 and were once exclusively doing film work.
Mr Fiore says unlike in previous eras, customers love the idiosyncrasy and imperfection of film photographs.
“It’s all about the novelty. It’s never the same, sometimes [the pictures are] a bit dark, it’s a bit light and they love it.
“Back in the day we had so many complaints when it was dark, and these days people want the bad stuff.”
He said one customer recently brought in a roll of film she had accidentally double exposed, using the roll once for a birthday party and loading it into the camera again for another event.
“We’re looking at this thinking it is pretty bad and she’s like, ‘This is amazing. I love it’.
“Because it was completely random, and it was something that can never happen again.”
A plethora of art styles have existed since art became a concept, but abstract art is often one of the most misunderstood styles of today’s age. Some people love abstract art and some don’t, but this unique method has influenced many artists and in addition, abstract art has been used to develop additional styles and forms.
Take a look at what abstract styles have given the art world and while covering the topic, we’ll go over ten abstract artists of the past couple of centuries.
Abstract Art & Its Mediums
The focus of abstract art is to distance the idea of the artwork from the object that it references. This means that abstract art aims to skew realistic images and mold something unique out of the person, place, thing, or concept being represented. In very simple terms, abstract art is a piece of art that doesn’t have to look like the subject it captures.
Abstract art most commonly takes the form of a painting, and several painting mediums are used to create abstract pieces. These mediums include oil, acrylic, pastel, and watercolor. However, abstract art can also be created through drawing, sculptures, glasswork, and the like.
Let’s take a look at ten of the most famous abstract artists of all time, and in reading about these individuals, you might feel encouraged to visit their galleries and examine the artworks they’ve produced.
Bands formed over millions of years ripple out in a domino effect creating a mesmerizing symphony of line, color and shape in this high grade Laguna Agate Specimen from Mexico. Fine Art Limited Edition of 50.
1. Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky was one of the first artists to create pieces using abstract concepts. He was born in Russia in 1899 but didn’t start painting until he was in his 30s. In addition to becoming a successful artist, Kandinsky also helped create the Art Culture Museum in his hometown and contributed to the art world through his theoretical writing pieces as well.
His artistic influences included music and spirituality.
Famous Works: Rain Landscape, Untitled (First Abstract Watercolor)
2. Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko was born in Latvia but moved to the US as a small child. He was intelligent and attended Yale, but dropped out because he found the institution to be an elitist one. He began painting as an adult and moved to New York City soon after discovering his talent. Several of his paintings were exhibited at the Museum of Modern art and the Opportunity Gallery. It’s worth noting that after meeting Milton Avery, Rothko’s paintings went from darker-themed to vibrant and colorful.
Famous Works: No. 2, Green, Red, and Blue / White Center
A sprawling floodplain is threaded by the scars of a braided river in southern Iceland. Erosion of the dark sands reveals the golden beds of clay beneath, creating a diaphanous aurora across the landscape, bordered by columns of orange fire. Fine Art Limited Edition of 50.
3. Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock is a well-known name for even those only moderately familiar with the arts, as several of his paintings are still quite famous today.
He joined the Art Student League at eighteen and studied under fellow artist Thomas Hart Benton. His biggest influences came from Mexican murals he observed and as his artistic career flourished, he developed his famous “drip technique” where he took to painting on canvases that were laid horizontally. He combined this technique with abstract painting methods, which is what produced his unique artistic style.
Famous Works: Convergence, No. 5
4. Helen Frankenthaler
Helen Frankenthaler was an American artist whose abstract paintings emerged around the Abstract Expressionist era. She developed what’s known as the “Soak Stain” method, which she used in her paintings to set herself apart from other artists of her time. Soak staining involved pouring paint over an untreated canvas so that it would soak through and produce vibrant color combinations.
Famous Works: Mountains and Sea, Cameo
A bed of colorful river stones glitters beneath the clear waters of a high mountain stream. The interference of crystalline ripples forms a web of light hung with jewels of emerald and amber. Fine Art Limited Edition of 50.
5. Cy Twombly
Even in his early teens, Cy Twombly was interested in painting and attended painting lectures. Eventually, he attended the Boston Museum School and his art style was influenced by the German Expressionist pieces he discovered during his enrollment. He was also influenced by other artists, especially those who embraced Surrealism in their paintings.
Famous Works: Leda and the Swan, Quarzeat
6. Georgia O’Keeffe
Georgia O’Keeffe is known as the Mother of American Modernism and began her pursuit of art at eighteen when she attended the Art Institute of Chicago. After meeting Arthur Wesley Dow, she was influenced to move to New York City and work as a full-time artist.
Her flower paintings are one of her most well-known collections and many figures in the feminist movement have found inspiration in them. Even now, she is one of the most accomplished female abstract painters in history.
Famous Works: Sky Above Clouds IV, Blue and Green Music
A dense grove of aspen, suffused by a parade of bright gold and scarlet in the heart of winter is transformed by sudden motion. The fecund undergrowth becomes a raging brushfire snarling the grecian fantasy of floating columns like an animate miasma. Fine Art Limited Edition of 50.
7. Gerhard Richter
Gerhard Richter was born in the Weimar Republic in 1932 and left school in his teen years to work as a set painter for stage productions. He then attended the Dresden Academy of Fine arts and became a professor before relocating to Cologne. Richter continues to paint today at 91 years old and some of his best pieces are done in photo-realism and abstract.
Famous Works: 180 Farben, Abstrakte Bild 809-1
8. Robert Motherwell
Robert Motherwell was a 20th-century American artist who followed the abstract expressionist style. His painting, The Mexican Sketchbook, is one of his most famous artistic creations. He was skilled in both abstract art and realistic portraits.
Famous Works: Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 110, The Mexican Sketchbook
The crumbled soil of a dry desert flat is inspired by the low light of the sun into a bed of jewels. Sitting like the precious beads in a brooch, the alkaline baubles are woven by a spider’s web of fissures into a fractal tapestry of rainbow color. Fine Art Limited Edition of 50.
9. Piet Mondrian
Mondrian was considered a pioneer of the abstract art form and many of his paintings embrace extreme abstract styling, using various shapes and colors to illustrate his messages. Unlike many other artists, Mondrian was exposed to art at an early age, as he was a second-generation artist in his family. His father was also a painter who taught his son how to draw and practice art.
Famous Works: Tableau I, Broadway Boogie-Woogie
10. Lucio Fontana
Lucio Fontana was also the son of an artist, though his father was a sculptor in Argentina. Fontana moved to Italy to study at the Accademia di Brera before returning to Argentina to start his own art academy. His art style utilized Spatialism and he put a lot of emphasis on shapes and dimensions in his work.
Famous Works: Spatial Concept, Attese
The desert sun shines down through an iridescent portal in one of Antelope Canyon’s famous slot canyons. Over the eons, the solid rock has begun to take on the shape of the wild rivers which have carved their way through it. Fine Art Limited Edition of 50.
Why I Love Abstract Art & Photography
Since my very first days with a camera in my hands I have gravitated towards abstract nature photography and still find great joy in creating it today. The shapes, patterns and colors found in our natural world are amazing. These patterns are often similar. For example, visually striking & similar patterns can be found both looking down into the worlds greatest canyons and the surface of a 5 cm agate.
With nature photography, the scene itself, made up of natural elements and the available light dictate to a certain degree the available compositions and imagery that can be captured at any one time. With abstract photography, the opportunities are endless. To me personally, the challenge of finding order and purpose in what looks like a mess at first glance, is incredibly fun and rewarding. If one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, it is also true that one man’s mess is another man’s masterpiece.
A bubbled baubled wall of cerulean ice refracts the murky rays of the sun’s warmth like the core of a giant sapphire. Veins of frozen crystal swarm across the surface, recounting stories of warmer days gone by. Fine Art Limited Edition of 100.
Plates of chromed steel are woven together into a living fabric, stretching from a fiery sodium-vapor inferno below to the pastel rescue of the sky above. Caught in the warped space of the iron cavern, the walls seem almost to move. Fine Art Limited Edition of 100.
A video of a plane passenger’s unexpected view during a flight from San Francisco to New York City has gone viral on TikTok, where it received 2.1 million views at the time of writing.
The footage shared by TikToker Michael Abramyan (@mikeabr) was posted with a caption that said: “not a normal sight for this route [crying laughing emoji] #northernlights #aurora #astrophotography.”
The clip begins with the camera panning above rows of passenger seats inside a darkened plane cabin.
A message overlaid on the video read: “POV [point of view]: you’re the only one on your flight who noticed what was outside the window,” as the footage revealed a view of a plane wing against a backdrop of what appeared to be a colorful Northern Lights.
The video showed a shade of red, flashing continuously against the wing, with a strip of bright green along a horizon in the distance. A vivid red sky was later seen just above the green strip before the clip ended.
In a later comment, the original poster said the plane was traveling from San Francisco International Airport to New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, so it’s “not a common route to see NL [Northern Lights] [smiley face with star-shaped eyes].”
The Northern Lights (also known as Aurora Borealis) are the result of electrons colliding with the upper reaches of Earth’s atmosphere.
“In these collisions, the electrons transfer their energy to the atmosphere thus exciting the atoms and molecules to higher energy states,” according to the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “When they relax back down to lower energy states, they release their energy in the form of light. This is similar to how a neon light works.”
The Northern Lights can often be viewed “somewhere on Earth” just after sunset or just before sunrise. They’re not visible during daylight hours.
They usually form about 80 to 500 kilometers above the Earth’s surface but can be seen from as much as 1,000 kilometers away “when the aurora is bright and if conditions are right,” the NOAA says.
The Space Weather Prediction Center explained that the Earth’s magnetic field “guides the electrons such that the aurora forms two ovals approximately centered at the magnetic poles. During major geomagnetic storms, the ovals expand away from the poles such that aurora can be seen over most of the United States.
“When space weather activity increases and more frequent and larger storms and substorms occur, the aurora extends equatorward. During large events, the aurora can be observed as far south as the U.S., Europe, and Asia,” the center said.
Several users on TikTok were blown away by the spectacular view in the video.
In a comment that got 18,700 likes, user Anshul soni said: “I don’t believe that the pilot didn’t announce it out loud.”
User Mama Casss wrote: “I would have been like “Y’ALL LOOK OUT THE WINDOW IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL,'” in a comment that got 12,600 likes.
User Laila Fallaha said: “i would have screamed [crying laughing emoji],” while user Caleb Verpoort simply said: “Unbelievable…”
Dan_Giff said: “That’s a precious view,” while user aly wrote: “So lucky to see this!!!.”
Newsweek reached out to the original poster for comment. The video has not been independently verified.
Do you have any incredible videos or pictures you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some details and your story could appear in Newsweek.
I believe photography is the best language inherent to every human being. One can not read a book written in German, Spanish or Russian, without knowing these languages. But one can easily read a photograph taken by a German, Spanish, or Russian photographer. That is why I think photography is one of the most powerful media to transfer one’s thoughts to viewers.+
From my childhood, I was fascinated by comic books like Tintin, Asterix, Chacha Chowdhury, Nonte Fonte, and others. I fell in love with the pictures, cartoons, and sketches from these books so much that I started learning to paint during my school days. As I grew up, my fondness for painting gradually drew me to photography.
Currently, I shoot mostly street, travel, and human interest. I have a fondness for the colors and texture of the streets, most of my pictures are in colors. Colors affect human moods and emotions, for example, blue create calmness, green is relaxing, orange gives an energetic vibe and red evokes passion and optimism. I love experimenting with colors in my photography.
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About Konark Basu
I am a street and travel photographer based in Kolkata, India. Software engineer by profession, and photography is my passion. I started photography in 2017. I am a member of the Federation of India Photography (FIP). I have achieved distinct like Excellent FIAP (EFIAP) from The International Federation of Photographic Art and EFIP from the Federation of India Photography.
My photographs have been awarded and exhibited in different salon competitions around the world. I have received Lalit Kala Award (Gujarat, India) and 3 awards (Honorable Mention) in Paris International Street Photo Awards in 3 different categories. I was the winner of the HIPA Photography Day Contest, Finalist in Siena International Photo Awards.
I follow a lot of photographers and get inspired by their work. Some of the Legends are – Raghu Rai, Raghubir Singh, Henry Cartier Bresson, Fan Ho, Gary Winograd, Alex Webb, David Alan Harvey, Steve McCurry, and many more. I am also inspired by a lot of young and contemporary photographers’ work from India and Bangladesh.
You can find Konark Basu on the Web :
Copyrights: All the pictures in this post are copyrighted to Konark Basu. Their reproduction, even in part, is forbidden without the explicit approval of the rightful owners.
