96 Rare Pictures To Make You Say, “That’s Insane”

“Photography is the art of frozen time… the ability to store emotion and feelings within a frame.” Those are the words of Meshack Otieno, a freelance film-maker and photographer. And he's not the first to speak about how photographs can evoke emotions.

"Photography is not merely about capturing what the eye sees; it's about capturing what the heart feels," writes Darren Spoonley, a photographer and staff writer for Fstoppers magazine. "It's a means of translating emotions, experiences, and moments into a visual medium that can be shared and appreciated by others."

Photography is thus shared emotion...

If you've ever felt as if a picture makes you feel more than words do, you're not imagining it. When we process images, the part of our brain that's responsible for emotions gets activated. We don't just see a photo, we can often actually feel it.

“When we look at photos of actions or feelings, our brains react as if we’re feeling or doing those things ourselves," reads one study, published in the Review of General Psychology. "For example, seeing a photo might make us feel as if we’re experiencing what’s happening in the picture. Our brain areas responsible for sensing touch, movements, and emotions become active, letting us imagine those sensations as if they were our own.”