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Mogao Cave 158. Middle Tang (781–848) Reclining Buddha, Parinirvāṇa scene. West wall. Lo Archive photograph, 1943–44. Princeton University (Lo 158-10).
caves

The Adventurous Quest to Capture Remote Buddhist Caves in the 1940s

Innovative photographers James and Lucy Lo created a time capsule of a sacred space at a vulnerable time.
Winnie Lee May 11, 2021
Greatest science fair ever.
volcanoes

Why Does Iceland's Fagradalsfjall Volcano Look Like a School Science Project?

A spatter cone and runny lava give this eruption its classic look, and make it relatively approachable.
Robin George Andrews March 26, 2021
<em>The World Is Going Upside Down</em>, orangutan in Tanjung Puting National Park, Borneo, by Thomas Vijayan.
nature

Get Wild With These Award-Winning Nature Photos

The winners of the 2020 World Nature Photography Awards have an eye for the sublime.
Winnie Lee March 23, 2021
"Blacky on a starry night in Laikipia County, Kenya, July 2019. For a photograph like this to work, several elements must come together: The night has to be dark, with the moon below the horizon and no hint of twilight to lighten the sky; the stars need to be unobscured by clouds; and the animal has to be facing the right way."
animals

A Photographer's Pursuit of the Elusive Black Panther

The challenge of capturing something almost impossible to see.
Will Burrard-Lucas March 16, 2021
Dawoud Bey, <em>Untitled #20 (Farmhouse and Picket Fence I)</em>, from the series <em>Night Coming Tenderly, Black, </em>2017, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Accessions Committee Fund purchase.
underground railroad

The Photographer Who Reimagined the Darkness of the Underground Railroad

How acclaimed artist Dawoud Bey used the landscape to tell the story of the unseen.
Winnie Lee March 11, 2021
A panoramic view inside Kawgoon Cave.
caves

Myanmar's Cave of Ten Thousand Buddhas Lives Up to Its Name

Centuries of devotion line the walls.
Winnie Lee January 28, 2021
photography

The Microphotographic Wonders of Vermont’s 'Snowflake Man'

Wilson Bentley was the first to claim that each snowflake is unique—and provided evidence.
Winnie Lee January 13, 2021
Bombay Beach, California, 2018.
roadside attractions

Seeing America Through Its Roadside Signs

A photographer captured the handmade, the unusual, the downright puzzling.
Pearse Anderson June 18, 2025
<em>Discarded Monuments, Tallinn, Estonia</em> (2015): “I found this location through a traveler’s blog. He had visited Tallinn’s History Museum and happened to wander around back, where he discovered all these statues just dumped there by the authorities. This is a good example of a place still in transition. I’ve seen photos of this location since I shot it in 2015, and the statues have been moved into more deliberate positions since then.”
statues

Meet the Photographer Hunting for the Scars of Soviet Rule

Matthew Moore captures places where monuments once stood—and then finds the statues as well.
Kerry Folan January 6, 2021
A girl observes a partial solar eclipse on the Mahanakhon Skywalk Glass Tray in Bangkok, Thailand (June 2020).
photography

2020 Might Be a Year Best Looked at From Above

A collection of curious and wondrous views from around the world.
Winnie Lee December 29, 2020
The Fountain of the Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi) in Rome's Piazza Navona is decorated with a light-mapping display.
electricity

Peep These Wondrous Holiday Light Displays Around the World

Even in 2020, the world is aglow.
Winnie Lee December 18, 2020
The facade of Hind Talkies in Bareilly.
architecture

An Elegy for India's Single-Screen Cinema Palaces

Meet the photographer who has scoured the country to document these vanishing communal sites.
Reem Khokhar December 3, 2020
Yosemite, Carleton E. Watkins, 1872.
nature

See America's National Parks—Before They Were National Parks

Landscape photography like this helped create the national park system.
Winnie Lee May 8, 2025
Striking from above, Hormuz Island rewards a closer look.
art

A Glimpse of Iran's 'Rainbow Island' From Above

It's easy to see why the island attracts artists and geology lovers.
Winnie Lee November 13, 2020
Cambridge, MA 2018.
infrastructure

Meet the Artist Who Does Extreme Close-Ups of Utility Poles

Rosamond Purcell finds stories, landscapes, and more on their mottled surfaces.
Winnie Lee October 16, 2020
From high in the sky, the colors of the landscape are plainly visible.
lakes

Behold, the Great Salt Lake's Wonderfully Colorful Salt Pans, From Space

Everything looks cool from the International Space Station.
Jessica Leigh Hester October 9, 2020
Freeman Vines and his guitars, 2015.
murder

A North Carolina Artist’s Search for a Lost Sound Uncovered a Dark History

Freeman Vines honors a lost Black life with his ‘Hanging Tree Guitars.’
Winnie Lee September 29, 2020
The bull and elephant illusion at Airavatesvara Temple.
Kumbakonam, India

Airavatesvara Temple’s Optical Illusion

This temple contains what might be the world's oldest optical illusion.