“In 1967, Zhang Yaxin was 34 and working as a photojournalist at China’s state-controlled Xinhua News Agency when he was assigned to a top-secret government project. He was to be the official photographer of a new arts program led by Chairman Mao and his wife – the Model Operas. Though he was not to know it then, Zhang would spend the next seven years documenting the evolution of one of the most dramatic and elaborate attempts to redefine artistic sensibilities in modern art history”. – Chengcheng Jiang via TIME. Photo: Raid on the White Tiger Regiment, 1971. (Photo by Zhang Yaxin/Courtesy See+ Gallery, Beijing)

Artist Matthew Albanese creates amazing miniature landscapes made from sugar, chocolate and even bits of ostrich in his living room. All the models were painstakingly recreated in his living room, which he uses as his studio. Each gruelling piece can take up to as many as 700 hours to complete. Photo: A stormy version of “New Life 2” created by Matthew Albanese. (Photo by Matthew Albanese/Barcroft Media)

The UK VELUX Lovers of Light competition attracted 15,000 entries from amateur, professional and mobile phone photographers. Entrants were asked to create a landscape image which celebrates and captures daylight. The judges have whittled these down to a shortlist of ten finalists. The winner will be announced at the end of march with the snapper of the best shot winning a trip to Norway – which will be made during the summer period when the country experiences 24 hour daylight. Photo: “Carousel in the mist”; Prokoshko, Bosnia. (Photo by Marko Stamatovic/PA Wire)

New Jersey based artist, Joe Iurato creates art using hand-cut paper and spray paint to make small wood cutout figures and placed in public spaces. According to Iurato, “a puddle can become a lake, a small crack in a cement wall can become a magnificent climb, a planter box can become a place for a child to play, and a shadow might be a tangible space for a few seconds a day”. Photo: “Small World”. (Photo by Joe Lurato)

National Geographic photographer Steve Winter has spent most of his adult life shooting wild cats. Photo: A 14-month-old cub, cooling off in a pond, is riveted by a deer that appeared near the shore. Tigers are powerful swimmers; they can easily cross rivers four to five miles wide and have been known to swim distances of up to 18 miles. (Photo by Steve Winter/National Geographic)

Ralph Mirebs, an urban explorer and photographer in Russia, has revealed extraordinary photos of Soviet space shuttle prototypes gathering dust in an abandoned hangar. The abandoned hangar is located at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which is still in operation today (with the close of NASA’s shuttle program, Russian Soyuz shuttles are the only way for astronauts to reach the International Space Station). The Buran prototype shuttles found by Mirebs, however, are from an earlier era – they are the last remnants of a space program that began in 1974 and was finally shuttered in 1993. (Photo by Ralph Mirebs/Exclusivepix Media)

Woman on swings attached to a float during the Sexual Freedom Parade, part of Naughty in N'awlins held in New Orleans, Louisiana, Wednesday July 5th, 2017. These are the photos from inside the world’s largest swinging convention for couples. The exclusive images reveal the unlikely couples who like to engage in sexual relations with other people besides their partners – and show that swinging is more ‘normal’ than you think. (Photo by Mathew Growcoot/News Dog Media)

The abandoned Moulton and Kyle Funeral Home in Jacksonville, Fla., which is more than 150 years old, was left to rot, with the premises eerily strewn with open caskets, a hearse and embalming chemicals. Much like the corpses that were laid to rest, the remains of this building too are slowly decomposing and decaying. Black mold has engulfed the walls, and chipped tiles from the collapsed ceilings cover many of the floors. (Photo by Abandoned Southeast/Caters News Agency)