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A wide view of a star-filled galaxy with a dense cluster of orange and gold stars. To the right, the colours shift into deep blues and teals.

Delaney Allen's a master of bewildering close-ups and bewitching landscapes

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Date
25 January 2013

Texan photographer Delaney Allen has one of the most bewitching photographic portfolios we’ve ever laid eyes on. Thick with rich landscapes and shots of turbulent seas, interspersed with abstract close-ups that give little clue to their construction, Delaney manages to transform everything he scrutinises into strangely familiar but equally distant scenes. See that shimmering cosmos above? That’s just glitter on cloth. And that frothy cream mid-spill? That’s a section of rough coastline. We like nothing more than to be deceived by immaculate images and Delaney has turned that trick into a fine art.

A close-up of churning, sandy-brown water crashing into a spray of white foam. The water surges upwards, creating a textured peak against a muted, grey background.
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Delaney Allen: Photographs

A vast expanse of space filled with shimmering stars and cosmic dust. Swirls of deep blue and glowing orange nebulae drift across a dark, star-studded void.
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Delaney Allen: Photographs

Churning white foam crashes against a dark, textured rock face. The water is thick and opaque, creating heavy, swirling peaks and troughs.
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Delaney Allen: Photographs

A misty mountain landscape at dusk. Layers of dark evergreen forests are partially obscured by thick blue and purple fog under a muted pink sky.
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Delaney Allen: Photographs

A large, dark rock formation with jagged edges stands against a sunset sky. The horizon glows with soft orange and yellow light under a purple haze.
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Delaney Allen: Photographs

A towering plume of thick white and grey smoke billows upwards against a pale blue sky. A dense layer of reddish-brown haze settles across the bottom of the frame.
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Delaney Allen: Photographs

A steep, grey rock face with sharp, vertical fissures. In the foreground, a pile of jagged boulders and scree has collapsed from the cliff.
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Delaney Allen: Photographs

A large, rocky outcrop topped with a few pine trees rises from a dark sandy beach. Thick fog shrouds the scene, blurring the horizon and the distant coastline.
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Delaney Allen: Photographs

A thick plume of white and grey smoke rises against a pale, overcast sky. The smoke is dense at the base and thins as it billows upwards.
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Delaney Allen: Photographs

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About the Author

James Cartwright

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James started out as an intern in 2011 and came back in summer of 2012 to work online and latterly as Print Editor, before leaving in May 2015.

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