We are thewinners.

the ones who get to be here.

An aerial view of a winding badlands road with orange roadside pylons disappearing into low fog

The ones who get to see this

This surrounding sphere of light and color.

↓

And yet, it’s easy to not truly look.

Turquoise Pacific water, white surf and a rocky headland framed by evergreen branches

A bison standing beneath a towering plume of golden geothermal steam

An intimate portrait of a pelican, its pale feathers and blue-ringed eye in fine detail

We forget how rare all of this actually is.

Sunlight tracing luminous silver edges around towering clouds in a deep grey sky

Vivid turquoise geothermal water and drifting steam beside pale mineral terraces and evergreen trees

A sharp triangular shadow cutting across a pale brick building and its small windows

How mesmerizing even the dullest imagery would be, if we didn’t exist and then awoke.

But we are the winners.

Tickets to the greatest show.

Layered forested headlands and pale surf receding into coastal mist in black and white

Alive. A part of whatever all this is.

A red Toronto streetcar cresting a hill beneath overhead wires beside a waiting pedestrian

A vivid red life ring behind green ferry railings, with calm water and a forested shore beyond

A yellow fire hydrant with a blue cap softly framing sharp yellow pipes and autumn leaves against a brick wall

A bold yellow letter K painted on a city wall between shadowed buildings

A red Golden Gate Bridge tower and suspension cables disappearing into pale fog

Two pedestrians passing a monumental red letter R on a striped black and white facade

Bright yellow graffiti lettering and painted rail cars among deeply shadowed city rooftops

Bright yellow alpine wildflowers in the foreground of a softly focused snow-covered mountain

Red flowers and deep shadow surrounding a sunlit stone doorway

A bright red tail-light streak beneath silhouetted road signs and a rose-colored evening sky

A yellow wooden building framed by green steel bridge beams, with an airplane crossing the sky

A Lucy cartoon mural on a dark brick wall, viewed through soft yellow foreground bars above a white car

Photography celebrates that.

Sweeping aerial ridges and gullies in golden badlands beneath a dramatic bank of storm clouds

People gathering at a New York crosswalk, a cyclist and long afternoon shadows beneath the Bowery and Canal Street signs

It’s a salute to this privilege of existing.

A reminder to cherish.

A steel bridge over a still river, framed by dark evergreens beneath sunlit mountain slopes and drifting mist

Silver surf breaking beneath dark mountain ridges wrapped in cloud

A low orange sun and its narrow reflection across the ocean beyond silhouetted grasses

To be truly part of this vast, visual canopy we too often take for granted.

A bird gliding over sunlit fields and softly layered hills in warm evening light

Green trees and their complete reflection in a glassy lake under soft mist

Overlapping forested mountain slopes dissolving into grey mist in black and white

It’s a celebration marked by imagery.

Tall orange LOVE lettering on a weathered brick building caught in a narrow shaft of sunlight

A sunlit mountain above an evergreen forest, mirrored in the deep blue water of a still lake

Pelicans gliding past a tall coastal sea stack above blue water

A line of tall golden poplars glowing against a softly lit forested hillside

A vivid double rainbow arching over an empty road and dark rolling hills

An immense tree trunk and branching canopy seen from below in black and white

A long green steel bridge stretching across misty water into warm low sunlight

Visual echos emphasizing our existence.

A steep San Francisco street descending between dark buildings toward the illuminated Bay Bridge at night

Afterall, we won right?

Golden sunlight pouring into a green alpine valley beneath rugged mountain peaks and a winding stream

Dense New York traffic with streams of headlights and red brake lights stretching along an avenue

When all is said and seen,

we were the ones who got to be here.