Chris “Birdman” Andersen poses for Getty Images photographer Mike Ehrmann during the Miami Heat's Media Day at AmericanAirlines Arena, on September 30, 2013. (Photo by Gary Coronado/The Palm Beach Post)

P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews)

Memory Suitcases is a thought-provoking series by Israeli artist Yuval Yairi that uses old, worn suitcases as canvases for nostalgic landscapes. Like scenes out of one's memory, the propped up traveling cases feature a range of sepia-toned settings. The series presents the objects as though they are relics of a civilization from yesteryear, each with their own story to tell.
There's something both heartbreaking and sentimental about the images. It appears to tell a number of stories of leaving one lifestyle for another. The suitcases hold within them a picture show of memories from a life-altering journey. Like a number of his other works, Memory Suitcases "mimics the natural process of memory."

“Harry Whittier Frees (1879–1953) was an American photographer who created novelty postcards and children's books based on his photographs of animals. He dressed the animals and posed them in human situations with props, often with captions; these can be seen as progenitors of modern lolcats”. – Wikipedia. Photo: “The nurse”. Photograph shows a puppy holding a kitten, 1914. (Photo by Harry Whittier Frees/Library of Congress)

P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews).

A member of a female grappling team from Qinghai Province armed police undergoes dagger exercise on August 8, 2006 in Xining of Qinghai Province, China. The female grappling team, established in May 2006, has 40 women soldiers aged 18 to 21. The training program includes grappling, boxing, dagger exercise and shooting. (Photo by China Photos). P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution.

Documenting the effects of climate change first hand over the past eight years, Camille Seaman fears we may be on the road to the last iceberg. Photographing the enormous frozen floats at both poles for the past eight years, the Californian adventurer has seen the receding ice shelves and experienced the changing warmer weather. Feeling that her intimate and emotional work documents a snapshot of history, Camille presents her series “The Last Iceberg” as a study of what she sees as the personality of each huge iceberg. Drawing parallels with the famous novel, “The Last of the Mohicans”, Camille, 42, wonders whether these unique, almost alien natural features will become a thing of the past or part of nature's renewal process. (Photo by Camille Seaman/Barcroft Media)

As part of FLAIR Melbourne – a Flinders Lane art festival – Melbourne’s Lisa Minogue presents stylised photographic portraits of Australian women of colour, their faces painted vibrantly to accentuate their individuality and encourage the viewer to study each face more closely. Minogue asked each woman the same question: “What do the words “coloured girl” mean to you?”. (Photo by Lisa Minogue/The Guardian)

AFP presents a photo essay on professional wrestler Gia Scott shot by photographer Jim Watson over several months in 2018. Kierra Scott – better known by her stage name Gia – is a rising star in the US pro wrestling scene. This month, the 19-year-old became the youngest ever female champion of the MCW wrestling league in Maryland. Here: Professional wrestler Gia Scott (R) tries to break free from the grip of professional wrestler Aria Palmer (L) during Autumn Armageddon 2018 in Galena, Maryland on October 6, 2018. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP Photo)

We are all drawn to fire, entranced by its beauty and ferociousness. Its brilliance draws us in like moths to a candle flame. Thus, many of the celebrations that humans have involve lighting fires. They can be big or small; there could be many little lights or one giant inferno; they may float on water, burn on land, or rise high into the skies. Loi Krathong is a festival that is held each year in Thailand and a number of other places. During this festival thousands of little fires are lighted, presenting a marvelous sight for all the onlookers. It is believed that this tradition is an adaptation of Brahmanical festival, which was adopted by Thai Buddhists to honor Buddha.