35 Times People Took A Photograph And Realized It’s “Accidental Renaissance” (New Pics)
We take plenty of photos but for most of us, it's pretty difficult to get good at it. No matter how hard we're trying. Others, however, can produce a spectacular image even when they're not.
The subreddit r/AccidentalRenaissance is the biggest online "gallery" for these works — it showcases photographs that inadvertently resemble well-composed Renaissance-style art.
"We recognize there are many related art movements between the 14th and 19th centuries, including Baroque, Neo-classicism, Romantic, Dutch Golden Age, etc. All of these styles are appreciated and welcomed within this subreddit!" the moderators of r/AccidentalRenaissance write.
Following up on our earlier publications (part 1, part2), we put together a new list of the best masterpieces the subreddit has to offer. Enjoy.
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Stuck My Arm In The Coop To Sneak A Pic Of The Hens Settling Down At Dusk One Night- “Magic Hour”
National Park In Italy
To further explain Accidental Renaissance, the people who look after the subreddit provide these descriptions:
- Composition: triangular/pyramidal figures, dynamic, asymmetrical, foreshortening, and, of course, the use of the Fibonacci sequence or Golden Ratio;
- Lighting: Featuring use of sfumato (blurring/softening of outlines) and/or chiaroscuro (strong contrasts between light and dark);
- Subject: Landscapes, people, scenes that feature one or both of the above.
Billie Holiday Performing "Strange Fruit" In NYC's First Ever Integrated Club, 1939
Strange fruit is about the racial hate and the lynching of African Americans. Read the lyrics and look at that "lovely vintage picture" again. https://genius.com/Billie-holiday-strange-fruit-lyrics
This Candid Of My Hubby During The Texas Blackout
A representative of the mod team, u/Openminded_skeptic, told Bored Panda that "the most popular subjects appear to be scenes with crowds of people doing things like protesting, marching for a cause, or otherwise expressing themselves; highly saturated, photos of people, livestock, or interesting architecture featuring chiaroscuro and many times sun or light rays highlighting a portion of the photo; and photos featuring politicians or world leaders seem to be fairly popular."
The Winner Of The Miami Street Photography Festival Award By Paul Kessel
Bedtime For Jeff The Goose
As of today, the community has 816K members, or as they call themselves, universalis personae. u/Openminded_skeptic describes them "as passionate and invested in the subreddit and the subject of Renaissance-esque photography, sometimes to the point of getting into spirited debates in the comment section on whether a particular photo is or is not either accidental or Renaissance!"
u/Openminded_skeptic attributes the popularity of the subreddit to the universal appeal of the period. "Renaissance-era art was really about humanity's rebirth, culturally, economically, politically, and artistically," they said. "I think that's something that never goes out of style."
Vermeer Vibes
Indeed. Art, architecture, and science were closely linked during the Renaissance, and often these fields even fused together.
For example, artists like da Vinci incorporated scientific principles, such as anatomy into their work, so they could recreate the human body with extraordinary precision. Architects such as Filippo Brunelleschi immersed themselves in mathematics to accurately engineer and design immense buildings with expansive domes. And scientific discoveries by Galileo, Descartes, and other forward-thinking pioneers led to major shifts in thinking.
Renaissance art was characterized by realism and naturalism — artists strived to depict people and objects in a true-to-life way, and these pictures achieve that too.
Window To An Open Meadow
The Player
Marches In France
Three Friends
This Polaroid My Dad Took In Amsterdam Back In The 1980s
Aide Of A Padre
French Farmers Use Fire To Try To Save Their Vineyards During Cold Nights
Rainbow Soldier
All I can think is the list of superheroes killed by their capes in the Incredibles,
The Dress Of Novice Monks In Thailand
Earthly Pleasures
Looks Familiar
A Priest In A Church Of Paris, France
I would love to walk into this picture with a bed and just sleep for hours.
Winter Water Main Break At Night
Despite the efforts of his PR team, it has been revealed that God does not inhabit heaven.
Friend Left A Knot On The Lead Rope By Accident And Left Us This Amazing Piece
Looks like a Renaissance picture where they're all reaching for enlightenment or whatever those paintings mean.
The More You Look, The Better It Gets
A Man Outside Of The Courthouse Learns That Derek Chauvin Was Found Guilty On All Three Counts
South Of France - Analog 35mm Film // No Edit
Pandemic Dad
A Bad Hair Day That Turned Out Like An Oil Painting
I don't know why, but I really like his nose! It's got so much personality for some reason (kinda weird I know, but it just seems to add to this photo!)
Rome, Nuns On A Break
A Young Monk
Brother Mark takes a vow of Contemplative Silence. Or maybe he broke a prop lightsaber and is trying to work out how to let George know.
Stephen Fry Being Vaccinated At The Poets' Corner Of Westminster Abbey
Orthodox Jews In The Time Of Covid
This is a funeral, all those not wearing masks were anti-body positive people, etc. Contrary to popular myth, it is a high vaccinated community, that follows scientific advice of their own medical orgs like JOWMA, and only came out average in terms of number of cases or deaths.
My Step Mother Trying To Cool Off And Sadie, Who Is Terrified Of My 6 Month Old Twins
Covid Reaches The Us, 2020
Portrait Of Familial Exasperation (My Mother Made A Coy Remark To Me, And My Sister Captured My Expression)
Flying At The Crossing
No Paint, Just An Accidental Glitch. (Turin, Italy)
Pigeon The Grey Fights Balrog And Becomes Pigeon The White. The Fellowship Is Stunned
Wife Painting At Noon In Interior Alaska
My Two Friends Enjoying The Sun Yesterday
Tattoo Parlor
Supine In The Summer Heat
Tried To Take A Self-Timer Group Pic And Someone Fell
The First Patient
St.louis Mo Fd
Very Thomas Wyck (Who painted the great fire of London)... However rampant the fire is, they never gave up the fight...
My Father Was Looking Out The Window And Turned His Head And I Got This Great Picture
Silverback Waiting For The Rain To Stop
Like the joke goes "imagine if gorillas discovered the art of body building, we would be in a lot of trouble"
Brazilian Coffin Maker
The Consternation Of Distance Learning
Immaculate Humor
Veiled Slumberer, My GF, Marble
Spinazzi's Faith (1781) in the Santa Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi, Florence
Taking Christ's Body Down
The Speaker Of The Parlament Of Finland Listening To An 8 Hour Filibuster Speech
Milk, eggs, toilet paper...oh damn, I know there was something else...
Monkey Fighting For Orange
Tibetan Woman Holding Bitcoin Mining Psus
This one is so inconspicuous but really good. Without reading a title, I would miss it, my brain just thinking she is holding flowers.
Bülent Kılıç, A Photojournalist Taken Into Custody During The 19th İstanbul Lgbti+ Pride March Held In İstanbul
Wow, he looks like John the Baptist on the way to Salomé's platter...
The Believers (Dome Of The Rock Mosque, Jerusalem)
Two Wild Horses Fighting
Texas Residents Who Lost Power This Week.credit...tamir Kalifa For The New York Times
Accidental Renaissance Treatment Of American Maritime Pretty Boy
Woodstock 1969
A Post-Pub British Tragedy
The Way Back Home.
His thoughts- "All I know is that slice of cake I hid in the back of the refrigerator better still be there when I get home"
Happy Drunk Me
La Fée Verte: Expecting Kylie Minogue as the Green Fairy but gets Ozzy Osbourne as the Devil instead.
Picture Of My Friend Fixing A Fluorescent Tube Light Ended Up Looking Biblical
Someone Said I Should Post This Here, So Here I Go
The Pull Of Adam
Couldn't they find a thinner string to ensure they take his hand off when he falls?
Star Trek’s Brent Spiner In The Make Up Chair
The Music Of Violence
Sausage Making Demonstration, Minneapolis 2016
Triangles Are Everything In Both Renaissance And Pizza
Market Stall In Italy
Pure Renaissance In Blue And Red
Dave In The Bar
The Three Mental Stages One Goes Through Traveling With A Group Of Friends For Two Straight Weeks
The middle one has a lot of cards, I wonder which game they are playing?
Muhammad Ali In 1975 (The Thrilla In Manila)
Italian Senate, 19 January 2021
My Family Setting Up The Christmas Tree
Carried Away
She was a protestor and she was removed, no violence involved. The protestors were even allowed to stay for several days prior. I don‘t see why this would be 'shameful'. What other option is there? Leave the protestors be for months?
My Friend Struggling With His Pants
Hungover At Lake Tahoe, Feb 2020
Carpet Seller In Istanbul
He probably doesn't even make in 6 years of what the guy importing these carpets to Europe makes in 6 months.
Tears Of Mary
Fishtine Chapel
First Time On This Sub. I Was Told This Picture Would Fit Here
The 2021 Great Clash Of Amsterdam
In no regards to what they are fighting for, the man's face the moment he realizes he may have bit off more than he can chew. The price of freedom i suppose.
Loved it! Wonderful photography. Even the comic ones had a touch of realism art to them. Thank you.
Yes because they were part of a competition. When Bored Panda copies and pastes stuff from Reddit, they're not particularly bothered about the details.
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I don;t know whether or not this will work here, but I took this photo with my I phone 6 last year while walking my dog in the woods near my home. Woodland-s...bf-png.jpg 
this classic image of Manchester drunks should be on this list: https://www.buzzfeed.com/matthewchampion/i-dont-know-much-about-art-but-i-know-what-i-like
I think it's been on an earlier one of these compilations?
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Loved it! Wonderful photography. Even the comic ones had a touch of realism art to them. Thank you.
Yes because they were part of a competition. When Bored Panda copies and pastes stuff from Reddit, they're not particularly bothered about the details.
Load More Replies... I don;t know whether or not this will work here, but I took this photo with my I phone 6 last year while walking my dog in the woods near my home. Woodland-s...bf-png.jpg
this classic image of Manchester drunks should be on this list: https://www.buzzfeed.com/matthewchampion/i-dont-know-much-about-art-but-i-know-what-i-like
I think it's been on an earlier one of these compilations?
Load More Replies... 