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’.

Professional
2026
2026 MUSE Photography Winner - Maddie, Shannon, Whitney by michael wylot
kevin michael schmitz

Photographer / Company

michael wylot

Category

Fashion Photography - Advertising

Country / Region

United States

Amateur
2026
2026 MUSE Photography Winner - The Rose by Rodrigo Izquierdo
Bethany Philbin

Photographer / Company

Rodrigo Izquierdo

Category

People Photography - Fine Art

Country / Region

United States

Professional
2026
2026 MUSE Photography Winner - Jumping for Joy by Lauren Sumida

Photographer / Company

Lauren Sumida

Category

Fine Art Photography - Pets

Country / Region

United States

Amateur
2026
2026 MUSE Photography Winner - Majestic Solitude by Fury

Photographer / Company

Fury

Category

Minimalist Photography - Aquatic Worlds

Country / Region

Hong Kong SAR