A stay-at-home mom's surreal iPhone snaps of her children have seen her rack up more than a half-million Instagram fans. Ali Jardine, 42, photographs silhouettes of her two kids in fairy-tale environments, from a spiraling night sky to sunsets. The creative mom has gained more than 519,000 followers online since she got her first iPhone in November 2010. And due to her success, Ali, who is from Petaluma, Calif., has been able to monetize her work, helping the likes of HP and Samsung with Instagram campaigns. Here: a girl on a swing in the sky. (Photo by Ali Jardine/Caters News)

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.

Russia' s President Vladimir Putin (L) congratulates prizewinners at the 2018 Youth Judo Tournament dedicated to Soviet and Russian judo coach Anatoly Rakhlin, and held at St Petersburg' s Yubileyny Palace of Sports in St Petersburg, Russia on May 23, 2018. (Photo by Mikhail Metzel/TASS)

The 6th Siberian Tattoo Festival at Podzemka Loft Park in Novosibirsk, Russia on August 20, 2017. Tattoo lovers have been showing off their impressive inkings at annual conventions in LA and Russia this weekend. This year marks the sixth Siberian Tattoo Festival in Novosibirsk, Russia, while stateside tattoo fanatics have been celebrating all things body-art at the LA Tattoo Convention in Long Beach, California. (Photo by Kirill Kukhmar/TASS)

A South Korean soldier wear North Korea's military uniform, acting as North Korean soldier during an anti-terror and anti-chemical drill session held as part of the 2011 Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) event on August 17, 2011 in Seoul, South Korea. The 11-day UGC, which features drills including the handling of chemical and biological attacks, is a regular joint exercise between US and South Korean troops to prepare for potential emergencies on the Korean Peninsula. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

“The Qassam rocket is a simple steel artillery rocket developed and deployed by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas. Three models have been produced and used between 2001 and 2011”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A rocket, similar to the Al-Qassam rockets used against Israeli is prepared for launch as new members of the Islamic Jihad fighters show their skills as they attend a military show in the former Israeli jewish settlement of Atsmona September 26, 2008 in Rafah, southern of Gaza Strip. (Photo by Abid Katib/Getty Images)

The painted nails of a Kurdish Peshmerga female fighter are seen as she takes up a position during combat skills training before being deployed to fight Islamic State militants, at their military camp in Sulaimaniya, northern Iraq September 18, 2014. (Photo by Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters)

High waves batter a breakwater at a port at Kihou town in Mie prefecture, central Japan on October 6, 2014. Strong typhoon Phanfone slammed into Japan, packing gusts and huge waves that have already swept three US military officials out to sea, as it made a beeline for Tokyo. (Photo by AFP Photo/Jiji Press)