The illustrations created by Joao Carvalho are not just simple 3D drawings. By making it look as if various characters were drawn on regular note book paper, Joao fools our minds into thinking that the flat objects we see on the picture are actually 3-dimentional. To create these pieces of art, Joao first draws the lines of the “notebook” paper already bent, as if they stretch over the object that is about to be drawn. Then he applies shading and his masterpiece is all done! By looking at his pictures it is almost impossible to view them not as simple 2D drawings, but as real 3D objects. (Photo by Joao Desenhos)

In order to get a glimpse into the visual culture of drug trade in New York City, a British photographer Graham MacIndoe collected more than one hundred bags, which were used to sell heroin. These bags feature references to various movies, fast-food restaurants, and luxury brands. This could be a way to mark various purities of heroin, or maybe different drug dealers use different markers to distinguish between each other. We can only wonder where Graham has acquired all these heroin bags. Hopefully, he picked them up after their contents were emptied. (Photo by Graham MacIndoe)

Nine years ago, Tom Carter traveled from San Francisco to China, responding to a job posting that turned out to be a scam. He managed to find another job as a teacher, and saved enough money to embark on a 56,000 km trip through all of China's 33 provinces that lasted two years. Carrying a camera – just a a 4-megapixel point-and-shoot – Carter captured some amazing images of the widely varying landscape, people, and architecture across the nation. Photo: Buddhist pilgrim family from Sichuan. (Photo by Tom Carter via The Atlantic)

Karl Bang's paintings are unique because he combines totally different styles of painting within the same format. It is very difficult to design a balanced composition with realistic elements that are juxtaposed with flat colors and patterns. The faces of his subjects are painted realistically in the Western tradition with subtle gradations of color; while, his figures and costumes vignette into abstracted shapes, lines, flat colors and patterns that reflect Karl's background in China. It is as though there are different visual languages being spoken within his paintings.

“Japanese artist and designer Makoto Tojiki innovatively uses light as his primary medium of expression. In his latest exhibition, No Shadow, Tojiki manipulates thousands of small hanging lights to create 3D images of a man and animals. I’m pretty amazed by how the artist is able to “see” the image while meticulously placing the lights. Makoto’s creativity doesn’t stop at light production; he is also involved in jewelry making and furniture design”. (Photos by Ryo Ishihara/Josh Rothman)

“A skydiver has made history by smashing the world record for the highest skydive after leaping from 128,097ft (39,044m). Daredevil Felix Baumgartner ascended to the edge of space in a pressurised capsule suspended beneath a giant helium balloon. He then jumped out, freefalling for four minutes and 19 seconds before opening his parachute”.

Photo: Baumgartner celebrates after successfully completing the jump. (Photo by Balazs Gardi/Red Bull Stratos)

Photographer Wes Naman has created portraits of his friends using Scotch Tape to distort their features. The results are similar to Scottish artist Douglas Gordon's 1997 work, Monster, but Wes says he originally got the idea after applying tape to himself to test a lighting rig set-up. Wes Naman has been a self taught photographer of ten years before graduating from commercial photography in his home in North Carolina. (Photo by Wes Naman/Rex Features)