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Gallery: full or empty?

January 7, 2026 / 49 Comments

I did never know so full a voice issue from so empty a heart: but the saying is true ‘The empty vessel makes the greatest sound’.

William Shakespeare, Henry V

All photographers recognise that juxtaposing opposites in an image, or in a pair of images, creates an interesting tension for the viewer. Life is made up of opposites: big and small, old and young, light and dark, and yes, full and empty.  

It’s a long while since I participated in Cee’s Fun Foto challenge, now hosted by Dan, but this week’s theme of ‘full or empty’ caught my eye. What could I find in my travel photo archives, I wondered, that would depict these two contrasting ideas? My mind went immediately to the cliffs of Alkefjellet, in Svalbard, full of the sight and sounds of numerous birds. And not only the cliffs, but the skies above them too, as my feature photo shows.

Full

The other obvious choice for ‘full’ would be crowds, but I tend to avoid getting lots of people in my shots, preferring to focus on just one or two. However I did find a few shots with lots of people, and some others that in one way or another suggested ‘full’ to me.

Rocks full of Brunnich’s guillemots, Alkefjellet, Svalbard

A tree filled with Red-billed Queleas in Gambia

Bustling Fremont Street, Las Vegas

Night crowds in Jemaa el Fnaa, Marrakesh

A bus full of football players at the Newcastle United Carabao Cup Winners parade

Ever-busy City Palace Road, Udaipur

A fully laden truck on the road in Rajasthan

A towering display of guitars in MOPOP, Seattle

Steps full of Halloween decorations in Whitstable, Kent

Camels filling a road in Rajasthan

The waters of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, in full spate

Empty

I found ‘empty’ a little easier to portray, as I’m drawn to wide open, empty spaces. Whether landscapes or in buildings, the absence of people seems to attract me more than their presence, at least as a photographer. In particular the absence of people where you might normally expect them, such as in the abandoned bar in Bodie below, presents an interesting and sometimes slightly disturbing image.  

Empty stools in the Medersa Ben Youseff, Marrakesh

Empty bar stools in the hotel bar, Bodie State Park, California

A deserted room in the Musée de Marrakesh

Dante’s empty tomb in the Basilica di Santa Croce, Florence

Empty razor clam shells on a beach in Norfolk, England

More empty shells, these oysters, in Whitstable, Kent

Empty swing-boats in Ramsgate, Kent

A deserted road in Namibia

The empty expanses of Badwater Basin in Death Valley

Looking down on the vast empty interior of Svalbard

With thanks to Brian who inspired my approach to this challenge

49 Comments

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