Here Are 24 Of The Most Beautiful Photographs, As Selected By All About Photo Magazine Awards 2022: Shapes

"Staircases have such personality; no two are the same. If one looks closely, several compositional elements can be observed and captured including lines, shapes, curves, and repetition. The image captured here is at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)."

"‘Impossible Installations’ is a visual representation of humans and technology merging together to create a photographic project of sculptures that are too surreal to exist in real life. The project is a collaboration between Synchrodogs artistic duo and Artificial Intelligence, created in a truly innovative manner via using mixed media art to extract and redefine symbiosis achieved between humans and technology in the last century.

Changing the environment in a surrealistic manner artistic duo aimed to highlight the rapid changes humanity is facing due to the fast flow of innovation and progress. Observing the new ways the Earth begins to look like as a result of human interventions into the environmental processes, they created a series of works that balance between the real and the imagined, and are at the same time a visual reflection on the contrast between the past, the present and the future (which always remains unknown and unpredictable, leaving us some space for invention)."

"Drawn to this old leather carriage strap found in a curiosity shop, I was immediately drawn to its texture and ability to bend into sinuous shapes."

"An ongoing series revealing the inner beauty of these amazing and misunderstood creatures through photography."

"This is an image of the Mira Tower in San Francisco, California. The bay windows of these condominiums gradually twist in different directions to give this 400 feet high rise its dynamic quality."

"Floral images are my new center, through this process, I am learning that by photographing the simple lines and the daintiness of these flowers they become an exercise in form, in juxtapositions and in letting go.
By closely observing these living forms with their shifting shapes who then transition, mature and wilt thus creating this contrast in beauty, when blossoming or dying combined with their shaggy stalk versus the p_e_t_a_l_’s_ _e_t_h_e_r_e_a_l_ _t_e_x_t_u_r_e_ _generate this visual dissonance that captivates me.
I am finding a swell of energy in this newfound freedom of moving in a place I have never been. The flowers become metaphors soaked with my daily emotions."

"Expired Palms documents the battle in Southern California between two non-native species, the Canary Island palm and the South American palm weevil. The weevil’s larvae eat the interior of the palm’s trunk, eventually killing the trees. My vintage Polaroid SX-70 was the perfect tool for capturing their fading glory."

"Women birth this planet. Period (no pun intended) Oocitos Ovarios photographs help me express my ideas about female bodily autonomy. Females have only so many oocytes upon birth whereas males can supply their contribution till death…. In these photographs, the red represents the oocytes and the decisions that may arise upon fertilization of those eggs. Fertilization is complex and can become more complex depending on circumstances, and a female can find herself fertilized against her wishes… only she should decide what is to become of her oocytes upon fertilization…"

"This image captures a single face of wooded life, the symbols of strength, kinship and even life itself, cut short. We come to this photographic project with a degree of personal responsibility and regret. At the behest of our town, with a building permit in the offing, we removed an outcropping of 'non-native' and therefore 'invasive' redwood trees. The portraits of trees 'cut short' are our tribute to the one-time inhabitants of our property and beyond who are no longer. The raggedly severed cross section serves as a portrait and memorial to the life that once served as animal habitat, reduced the threat of global warming, and provided hope for the future of our planet."

"Leaves occur in such abundance where I live as to seem worthless, and yet each one is astoundingly complex and beautiful, both in form and function. I think of each one as a microcosm for all of Nature. The photographs in my Leaf Cutting series are made without a camera. I make the 'negative' by hand, a process from the 19th century known by the French term cliche verre. My process is a hybrid one and an experimental contemporary version of that earlier process. After making the 'negative' by hand, using actual leaves and other materials, I scan it, process it digitally, and then print it as an archival inkjet print."

"I have had a penchant for minimalism. This series forces one's eye to focus only on the essential elements of the image.
This is accomplished by totally removing all irrelevant material and applying a gradient over these areas."

"This series begins with a photo transfer onto linen in which the original photograph is shredded into individual strands. Prismacolor pencil drawing enhances the photo, creating greater depth in a similar way as the hand-coloring process applied to historical photographs. The result exposes the inherent qualities of both the image and the linen. Once framed, the individual strands swirl as if suspended in mid-air while revealing another dimension to the photograph."

"The series of images 'Verticals'was created during our holiday in Linz, Austria in 2021. The photos show unusual views of the light poles on the highway bridge over the Danube River. The morning backlight highlighted the silhouettes of the columns and their mutual arrangement."

"It’s easy to get seduced by the wonder of the West—the landscape, the running horses, the excitement that surrounds you at a rodeo. It’s when we slow down that the shapes and patterns of the place reveal themselves."