English singer, songwriter, and actress Paloma Faith looks stunning as the new face of Agent Provocateur on September 8, 2015. The 34-year-old singer models the latest Famous Knickers Forever AW 2015 collection. Paloma once worked at the lingerie store's Soho branch in London. (Photo by Alice Hawkins/Splash News and Pictures)

Tibetan monks create an intricate picture made from coloured sand at St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art on November 23, 2011 in Glasgow, Scotland. The monks, from the Panchen Lama's Monastery, are creating a Sand Mandala as part of a Tantric Buddhist ritual, invoking the presence of the Buddha in a design representing the palace of the deities. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

To produce the images that convey his fatalistic and ironic approach to life, tinged with hope, he needed the environment and knowledge of Mother Russia, oiled with a bit of bribery to certain circus trainers. Enter the Great Russian Bear, the personification of Russia for the last several centuries, onto center stage and into his studio. The bear is recognized as both brutish and cute – Misha was the mascot for the 1980 Olympic Games – and has remained a symbol of Russia since Tsarist times. In 2009 it is the symbol of the United Russia Party.

Sun Jifa, a farmer in China, had his life changed forever when an explosive he planned on using for fishing went off prematurely. He lost his arms and when he couldn’t afford high-end, hospital-made prosthetics he opted for a cheaper set. Finding those to be less than acceptable, Sun started building his own pair of arms, which he currently wears. It’s an incredible story of ingenuity and personal strength.

An undated archive picture shows a dog pulling a Belgian machine gun at an unknown location in northern France. A Viscount in the Armoured Cavalry Branch of the French Army left behind a collection of hundreds of glass plates taken during World War One (WWI) that have never before been published. The images, by an unknown photographer, show the daily life of soldiers in the trenches, destruction of towns and military leaders. The year 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI. (Photo by Collection Odette Carrez/Reuters)