Pictures of deceased people are seen inside a chapel at a cemetery in the village of Smoljinac, Serbia, October 25, 2016. From a distance, the cemetery in the eastern Serbian village of Smoljinac looks like a residential neighbourhood eerily placed among graves. But once inside the grounds, after passing a section with the usual stone slabs, visitors find rows of small bungalows painted in pastel colours. They have one or two rooms, large windows and ornate plaques – some inside, some outside – memorialising the deceased. These are the burial chapels of Smoljinac, cosy cabins with a furnished room inside, a storage place for wreaths and funeral paraphernalia, and the family crypt below. Some even have electric power inside. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

“Exactly one year before the long awaited Sochi Olympics, Vladimir Putin went to Sochi personally to see how the construction is going. After receiving a report saying the ski jumps that were supposed to be ready in 2011, are not completed still, while their price has sky-rocketed from 1.2 billion to 8 billion roubles, he commented, “Good for you. Good job”, and then fired the vice president of the Olympic committee. Russian artist Vasily Slonov painted his view of the upcoming games, giving a new interpretation to the adored Russian mascot Cheburashka, and combining officially endorsed stereotypes of Russia with grimmer and less accepted ones”. – Ruskie.info. (Photo by Vasily Slonov)

“I was born in the United States in 1985. As early as I can remember I’ve been a “doodler”. From even the early days I’ve always loved strange, offbeat, beautiful, and slightly melancholy things. Something about the mixed grabbed me. My love for sketching carried on throughout my high school days. Which is when I took a small class on watercolor. Watercolor is what birthed my passion for mixing colors and how a color can tell a story. In year 2009 I discovered digital painting and my new found passion for the medium. It’s been the favored medium for the past years since. I’ve used online tutorials and videos to help me learn along the way and then in late 2011 I took a workshop called Becoming a Better Artist. The beginning of 2013 I won a class from The Art Department which will start this spring.”

A replica of pre-historic drawings showing horses, rhinoceros and aurochs is seen on a wall during a press visit at the site of the Cavern of Pont-d'Arc project in Vallon Pont d'Arc April 8, 2015. The Cavern of Pont-d'Arc project is a replica of the pre-historic Decorated Cave of Pont-d'Arc known as Grotte Chauvet, in Vallon Pont-d'Arc in the Ardeche region, containing the world's earliest known art which was recently named a UNESCO World Heritage site. The facsimile cavern, which condenses some 8000m² of the original site into 3000m², will display faithful reproductions of paintings and engravings and will be inaugurated on April 10 and will open to the public on April 25. (Photo by Robert Pratta/Reuters)

“Der Jen (Dezhen; 德珍繪館) has achieved fame in her homeland and that fame is now spreading to other parts of the world as more and more people become familiar with her beautiful paintings. This Taiwanese artist depicts these beautiful ladies in classic, traditional dress that would have been worn by members of the royal court or an empress herself. Traditional hair styles and jewelry depicted in her pieces are also considered authentic. Der Jens art can be found in Chinese advertising, childrens magazines, romance novels, tarot cards, and even on public transit tickets. Its also making its way to our pcs as desktop wallpaper”.

Photo: Der Jen (Dezhen; 德珍繪館) – “The beauty of Brocade” (please click to enlarge).

Roza Khamitova was born into a family of artists in Kazakhstan. After finishing design school in Manhattan, New York, she was working in fashion industry for about 8 years. As a visual artist Roza had always drawn most of her inspiration from the natural world around her in the mountains of Kazakhstan. In 2011 she launched Shovava, her personal line of women’s clothing based on her hand drawn paintings and prints of the animals, plants and patterns found in nature. Roza was enchanted by the beauty of wings, its structure and symbolism. First, she sketches big wide-spread wings on paper with a light pencil, adds black ink to create a three-dimensional feel and fills with stunning watercolors.

In Dougie Wallace’s photos of Mumbai taxis, the chatter, yelling, and constant horns of the city are almost audible. A selection of his images is on show at Gayfield Creative Spaces, Edinburgh, as part of the Retina photography festival until 30 July. For four years, the Glasgow-born Wallace focused his photos on one kind of taxi in particular: the Premier Padmini, a 1960s workhorse painted in black and yellow. Locally known as “Kaali-Peeli”, there were once more than 60,000 of them in the Indian city. But thanks to laws restricting pollution, the cars now are fast disappearing from Mumbai’s streets. (Photo by Dougie Wallace/The Guardian)

People take pictures as an Airbus Beluga XL transport plane lands during its first flight event in Colomiers near Toulouse, France, July 19, 2018. The Beluga XL, the new cargo plane of the Airbus family has taken off from Blagnac, in the south of France, for its first test flight. The launch of the aircraft triggered thunderous applause in an audience of more than 10,000 people, mostly employees and subcontractors of the European aircraft manufacturer. (Photo by Regis Duvignau/Reuters)