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.

Goat herder Dana McGregor's goats Pismo, left, and Goatee surf at San Onofre State Beach, Calif, on July 11, 2012. McGregor started taking Pismo's mother Goatee to the beach, and it wasn't long before she was on a surfboard. When Pismo was born, McGregor put her on a board too, and she was a natural, he says. (Photo by Rod Veal/The Orange County Register via AP)

There is nothing more endearing than seeing true friendship and love. Especially, if it as improbable as that of a big dog and a tiny kitten. Somehow, animals feel when they are dealing with a baby. For example, no matter how much a toddler will tug on the tail of a cat and play roughly with it, it will never or very rarely fight back. This set of pictures taken by Jessie Pon shows a tiny kitten mistaking an adult golden retriever for his mother. Though it may hurt the dog’s nose with its sharp claws, the dog does nothing to harm the kitty. On the contrary, it’s watching over the kitty-cat as if it were her own puppy. (Photo by Jessie Pon)

Sandrine Kerfante has had a fascination with “doubles” ever since meeting her mother’s twin as a child. In 2012, this lifelong captivation inspired her to create a blog called twin-niwt, which celebrates photographs of doubles in all their forms. “I’m fascinated by the idea of the duo, repetition, symmetry, reflection, mirror games and all the symbolism associated with it”, she says. “I think it’s a topic often present in photography, more or less consciously”. (Photo by Sandrine Kerfante/The Guardian)

A pair of giant pandas play in their enclosure at the Beijing Zoo on June 5, 2012 in Beijing, China. With an estimated 1,600 living in the wild, the endangered giant panda dwell in a few mountain ranges in central China, in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces. (Photo by Lintao Zhang)

Brick-carving featuring Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) maids performing musical instruments is seen at the Chinese Music History Museum in Xian University of Architecture and Technology on September 27, 2008 in Xian of Shaanxi Province, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

A child attends a training session in a swimming pool on July 10, 2007 in Wuhan of Hubei Province, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

A dog welcomes a volunteer at the “Ping An A Fu” (“Safe and Happy”) Homeless Animals Rescue Center on September 11, 2006 in Nanjing of Jiangsu Province, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)