Icarus Moonward: A Self-Portrait

Photographer

Marcel van beek

Category

Fine Art Photography - Portrait

Company

Submission Group

Professional

Year

2026

Country / Region

Germany

‘Icarus’ is a conceptual self-portrait that explores the boundary between creative ambition and personal fragility. Captured strictly in-camera, the work utilizes the ancient myth as a metaphor for the artist’s own journey through the industrial and natural ‘soulscapes’. By deconstructing the human form into a play of light and metallic textures, the image transcends literal representation. It is a visual dialogue with the self, where the desire to soar meets the cold reality of the material world, reflecting a state of transition and the search for an ‘Otherworld’.

Amateur
2026
2026 MUSE Photography Winner - Green Meteor over the White Mountains by Erik Fraser

Photographer / Company

Erik Fraser

Category

Nature Photography - Adventure

Country / Region

United States

Professional
2026
2026 MUSE Photography Winner - Mount Fuji Framed in Red by FAN CHIEH WANG

Photographer / Company

FAN CHIEH WANG

Category

Nature Photography - Landscapes

Country / Region

Taiwan

Professional
2026
2026 MUSE Photography Winner - Edge of Night by Jason Marino

Photographer / Company

Jason Marino

Category

Nature Photography - Wildlife

Country / Region

Canada

Professional
2026
2026 MUSE Photography Winner - The Resting Moon  by Ariane Totzke

Photographer / Company

Ariane Totzke

Category

Nature Photography - Mountain

Country / Region

Switzerland