Interior designer Zahra Afridi (R) kicks a punching bag during a kickboxing training session at her home in Islamabad February 10, 2014. Afridi runs her own interior design company. Her most recent project was a Classic Rock Coffee cafe in Islamabad. Though instability continues to plague Pakistan and many areas are dominated by social conservatism, some of the country's more affluent residents have worked to fashion a very different kind of lifestyle for themselves. Pictures of men and women taking part in all sorts of activities and professions – from being a pilates instructor, to a textile retail entrepreneur, to a member of a rock band – offer a different view of Pakistan to images of conflict that often make the news. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

At this year’s Venice Bienniale in Italy, the Korean pavilion has a curious exhibit called “Commissions for Utopia”. It includes renderings from North Korea’s top architects and artists (all anonymous), many of whom studied at the Paekho Institute of Architecture, North Korea’s state-run architectural college, and none of whom have ever left the country. They were asked to create a vision of North Korea’s future sustainable architecture for its expanding tourism industry. Their final products are a glimpse into what it would be like to envision the future after being entirely cut off from the present for almost 70 years. (Photo by Nick Bonner/Kyle Vanhemert/Venice Architecture Biennale)

Pakistani supporters of cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan and Canadian cleric Tahir ul Qadri beat a riot policeman during an anti-government protest in Islamabad on September 1, 2014. Hundreds of protesters trying to topple Pakistan's government briefly seized the state broadcaster on September 1, intensifying the political crisis gripping the nuclear-armed nation. Deadly clashes since the weekend have raised the spectre of military intervention which gained ground after one disillusioned opposition leader said the protesters were acting according to a plan devised by the army. (Photo by Aamir Qureshi/AFP Photo)

A Ka'apor Indian warrior (L) chases a logger who tried to escape after they captured him during a jungle expedition to search for and expel loggers from the Alto Turiacu Indian territory, near the Centro do Guilherme municipality in the northeast of Maranhao state in the Amazon basin, August 7, 2014. Tired of what they say is a lack of sufficient government assistance in keeping loggers off their land, the Ka'apor Indians, who along with four other tribes are the legal inhabitants and caretakers of the territory, have sent their warriors out to expel all loggers they find and set up monitoring camps in the areas that are being illegally exploited. (Photo by Lunae Parracho/Reuters)

We place too much value into something as elusive as time. This is the lesson that Arina Pozdnyak, the creator of Perpetual Calendar, is trying to teach us. Days fly by, and even months are mere speckles of sand in an hourglass of eternity. People do not realize that the time given to us by fate cannot be measured using months or even years. It is measured using emotions and impressions. If a person lives to be 150 years old without experiencing any emotions, he might as well have lived one day, for all it’s worth. On the other hand, a person who lived an exciting, fulfilling life, read countless books and cherished every moment that he had, is actually the one who lived a longer life, even if in reality his flame was snuffed out much too soon. (Photo by Arina Pozdnyak)

Noriaki Iwashima gestures as he lies in a coffin to try it out during an end-of-life seminar held by Japan's largest retailer Aeon Co in Tokyo October 24, 2014. Funeral arrangements are normally left to those who have been left behind but the latest trend in Japan, which literally translates to “End of life” preparations, is for the ageing to prepare their own funerals and graves before they set off on their journey to the great beyond. With a population that is expected to shrink by nearly 30 million people over the next 50 years, the market for funerals, graves and anything related to the afterlife is still very much alive. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

When you look at the pictures created by Stacey Baker, you immediately think that these photos must have been staged by the photographer to convey some deep meaning. In reality, however, Stacy created her new series called “CitiLegs”, which has about 300 pictures of female legs, by asking passing girls and women in Manhattan, New York if she could photograph their legs. And that is when the realization hits you – “Some people actually dress like that!” What kind of a person would wear neon-green shorts over orange leggings with leopard-patterned boots, the toes of which are completely torn? Yes, there is a possibility that such a person might be insane; however, there are just too many “crazy” photos in this series! (Photo by Stacey Baker)

This November 11, 2014 aerial photo, shows a deforested area dotted with blue tarps, marking the area where miners reside, and craters filled with water, caused by illegal gold mining activities, in La Pampa, in Peru's Madre de Dios region. Less than a month before Peru plays host to global climate talks, the government sent a battalion of police into southeastern jungles to dismantle illegal gold-mining mining camps. Peru's anti-illegal mining czar, retired army Gen. Augusto Soto, marched the men to the wasteland known as La Pampa, where 50,000 hectares of rainforest have been obliterated in the past six years. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)