To take the all too familiar and to show it in an entirely fresh way that has the power to astonish and delight is a true gift. For a story called “Visions on Earth,” published in our October 125th anniversary issue, photographer Abelardo Morell worked his magic to show us the iconic landscapes of U.S. National Parks in a way we had never seen them before.

Using a portable camera obscura he calls a tent camera, Morell made this image of Old Faithful while it was erupting. The image is essentially being projected onto the gravelly ground through a lens on top of the tent camera and being re-photographed. It is actually a simple antique process, though one that’s