Spotlight

Cameras are great, but it’s what is done in photography with that technology that really matters. To that end, PetaPixel regularly shines a Spotlight on the incredible photos and videos created by talented artists from around the world.

Spencer Tunick: Photographer of Mass Nude Photos

Photographer Spencer Tunick has captured groups of nudes in close to 100 public spaces all over the world. His largest masterpiece was a group of 18,000 people who took off their clothes in Mexico City’s Zocalo Square, the heart of the ancient Aztec empire.

25 of the Best Aurora Photos of 2022

One of the gorgeous niches of nighttime landscape imaging is aurora photography, which shows the dazzling natural light shows seen in the sky when charged particles from the Sun ripple across Earth's magnetic field.

Capturing the Moon in the ‘Crown’ of the Bank of America Headquarters

Charlotte, North Carolina, is nicknamed the Queen City, after Queen Charlotte. I moved to Charlotte from Frankfurt, Germany in July 1992. That was not just the year but also the month that the Bank of America (BofA) building was completed. The 871ft (265m) skyscraper is the tallest building in the Southern United States outside of Atlanta or Texas, with its “royal” crown on the top.

Photographer Catches ISS Crossing the Moon on 35mm Film

Catching the International Space Station crossing the face of the Moon is quite challenging these days even with advanced cameras and relatively affordable telescopes, but one photographer decided to take things to the next level by catching an ISS lunar transit on 35mm film.

Perceptions of Memory: My Look Back at One Film Photo Every Day of 2022

It begins in a specific place, and on a specific date: a country auction. March 26th. While I’m holding up a camera and looking for my one daily photograph, an Amish man swings the mirror he’s offering up to the highest bidder and briefly —for no more than a second— shows me… myself. And there it was: suddenly, I was Narcissus on the plains.

Photo Ark: A Photographer’s Mission to Capture 20,000 Animal Species

Joel Sartore has been photographing the National Geographic Photo Ark since 2006. He has traveled to zoos, aquariums, and wildlife sanctuaries on every continent except Antarctica to encourage action through education, save wildlife by promoting conservation, and create a photo archive of global animal diversity.