Whether viewing the world from underwater or using a flash to illuminate everyday objects in a new way, the winning images in the 2022 Peninsula Photo Contest bring unique insight to life's otherwise ordinary moments.

This year's images expose the power of creativity and the various ways those behind the lens chose to capture candid moments of joy, exhaustion and humor.

Their work represents a rich mix of photo techniques and subjects: from a curious raccoon emerging from the swamp foliage unaware of the hungry alligator just below to a mother desperate to keep up with a boy on a scooter amid a horizontal blur to the monochrome image of an exhausted dad asleep on an old couch after helping his family clean their house.

For more than two decades, the Palo Alto Weekly and Palo Alto Art Center have teamed up to bring exposure to images taken by budding and professional photographers of all ages through the annual photo contest, which includes entries from anyone who works, lives or attends school in the 650 area code, from Daly City to Sunnyvale.

During this year's competition, the judges reviewed 659 images submitted by 137 adult and youth photographers in six categories: Abstracts, Landscapes, Moments, Portraits, Travel and Wildlife.

Each of this year's 12 winning images, which were taken between 2017 and 2022, uniquely capture slices of life as they unfolded at home, outdoors and abroad.

The winning photographs are on display, along with 14 honorable-mention images selected for exhibition, at the Palo Alto Art Center, 1313 Newell Road now to Aug. 20.

Read on to learn more about the photographers and the ideas and feelings they hoped to convey through their work.