It’s not hard to imagine what drove our Paleolithic ancestors to begin creating art on cave walls back in 39,000 BCE. After all, the world around us is often shockingly, even hauntingly beautiful. In our series Abstract Wonder, we explore the stories of 2022 that featured unexpected moments of beauty, captured by photographers all over the world.

How Water, Wind, and Chance Sculpted an Icy Work of Art

By Gemma Tarlach

When winter descends on Slovenia, the shallow waters of Lake Šobec morph into a dazzling work of fractal art. Using a drone and a little ingenuity, amateur photographer Aleš Komovec captured images that would make even Elsa from Frozen gasp.

Astronomer Gianluca Masi captured this image of the International Space Station passing directly over Rome's Colosseum.
Astronomer Gianluca Masi captured this image of the International Space Station passing directly over Rome’s Colosseum. Gianluca Masi/Parco archeologico del Colosseo & Virtual Telescope Project

A View of the Space Age From the Classical World

By Gemma Tarlach

It’s a rare, serendipitous moment when the future of humanity visually intersects with its ancient history. Astronomer and astrophysicist Gianluca Masi managed to immortalize such a sight, when the International Space Station (ISS) passed directly over the nearly 2,000-year-old Colosseum in Rome.

The dramatic colors and patterns of salt evaporation ponds on the Great Salt Lake are the result of a combination of salinity levels, wind, currents, and activity of brine shrimp, algae, and bacteria.
The dramatic colors and patterns of salt evaporation ponds on the Great Salt Lake are the result of a combination of salinity levels, wind, currents, and activity of brine shrimp, algae, and bacteria. ©Tom Hegen

Salt-Loving Microbes Make Vivid, Massive Abstract Art

By Gemma Tarlach

Photographer Tom Hegen has been chasing these naturally occurring Rothkos at the world’s salt flats for years. In the latest installment of his “Salt Series,” he journeyed to Utah’s Great Salt Lake via helicopter to capture immense expanses of color made by flamingo-pink brine shrimp, pale green and vermillion Dunaliella algae, and other microbes.

A satellite image acquired in September 2021 shows the central lobe of the Malaspina Glacier surging toward the sea.
A satellite image acquired in September 2021 shows the central lobe of the Malaspina Glacier surging toward the sea. European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery

Why Is This Rippling Alaska Glacier a Research Hotbed?

By Gemma Tarlach

Situated just past a corner of Canada’s Yukon, the Malaspina Glacier, or Sít’ Tlein in Lingít, sprawls for some 1,500 square miles, making it the largest glacier in all of North America. Ancient, immense, and on the move, this ever-evolving ice field has a great deal to tell scientists about climate change.

A levee divides wetlands and a salt pond, colored vibrant red by halobacteria, in San Francisco's South Bay.
A levee divides wetlands and a salt pond, colored vibrant red by halobacteria, in San Francisco’s South Bay. Courtesy of JoSon

Vivid Images Capture A Stunning Shift in San Francisco’s Salty South Bay

By Skylar Knight

From an aerial view, the salt ponds of South Bay look like a canvas splashed with vivid scarlet, emerald, and other shades seldom associated with aquatic landscapes. Over more than a century, the high salinity levels here have caused microorganisms to thrive—creating spectacular patterns in the process.