Tens of thousands of HIV positive prostitutes in the slums of Lagos to ensure a rapid spread of the epidemic. “If you arrive by car, you can smell the HIV virus outside”, joked my driver as we are on track to Badia a criminal slums of Lagos. Badia is a corruption of “Bad Area”. Nigerians have a lack of everything, except black humor. The poor West African country Nigeria, with a population of 140 million people, after India and South Africa the highest number of people with HIV / AIDS. (Photo by Ton Koene/Exclusivepix Media)

French artist Thomas Lamadieu, also know as Roots Art, must really love looking at the sky. Every time he looks up, Thomas sees a potential canvas where the building rooftops frame the sky. He photographs it and uses the odd sky shapes to create whimsical line drawings. “My artistic aim is to show a different perception of urban architecture and the everyday environment around us, what we can construct with a boundless imagination,” says Thomas. (Photo by Thomas Lamadieu)

Call Parade is an ongoing public art project in São Paulo sponsored by Brazilian telecommunications firm Vivo, that paired 100 artists with 100 street-side phone booths giving them free reign to transform the peculiar hooded fixtures into anything imaginable. The exhibition has proven to be extremely popular and Brazilian photographer Mariane Borgomani set out to capture a number of the phones, my favorite of which is the painted day/night treatment above by artist Maramgoní.

These eye-catching photographs capture the special relationship between a group of farmers and elephants – with a gorgeous sunset in the background. Vithun Khamsong, a civil engineer, shot the images earlier this year while visiting Surin, Thailand. (Photo by Vithun Khamsong/Caters News Agency)

“Hi! I'm Joel, I live in a valley in British Columbia's Rocky Mountains, as close to the forest as I could possibly be! I love to run, bike, jump, eat and create and I hope that you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy creating it!” – Joel Robison.

Photo: “Under Peaceful Skies”, 2011. (Photo by: Joel Robison; Source: Flickr)

“I am not a photo reporter, so I don’t feel obligated to honour every detail. What I’m trying to achieve is to emphasize the whole potential of a shot, creating a sight that I'd like if existed.. And since it’s impossible in real life, I do it in virtual :) My work is maybe more similar to ‘photo-painting’ than photography”. – Katarina Stefanović

Photo: Pannonian spring fantasy. (Photo by by Katarina Stefanović)

We received intriguing letter: “Hello! My name is Glenda Lissette, I am an 18 year old photographer from Chicago, IL. I produce surreal and conceptual photographs. I am currently working on a project where I take a photo a day for an entire year”. Well, let's look!

Photo: “If I Only Had a Brain” (365 project). (Photo by Glenda Lissette)

Californian photographer and conservationist Octavio Aburto had spent years photographing the school in Cabo Pulmo National Park, Mexico – and had been trying to capture this exact shot for three years. “Together with my friend David Castro, we were diving with a large group of Bigeye travellies at Cabo Pulmo National Park, Mexico. Thousands of fish forming a ball during the reproduction courtship. In the afternoon, these fish congregate to form a large spawning aggregation around the reefs of the National Park”. (Photo and caption by Octavio Aburto)