“Elat’ma, the Ryazan Oblast region of Russia. This small town is only 300 kilometers (186 miles) from modern Moscow but remains 60 years in the past, dominated by the spirit of socialism. The air of the communist ‘50s can be seen in the town’s architecture, celebrations and other occurrences. But neither its beauty nor its ties to a socialist past brought photographer Anastasia Rudenko to this village. Elat’ma is unique in that it functions as a town for mentally disabled people”. – Michelle Cohan via CNN. (Photo by Anastasia Rudenko)

In spring sunsunshine the “Out of Sync” art installation is unveiled on a grass meadow at Somerset House on March 15, 2012 in London, England. Chilean artist Fernando Casasempere hand crafted the 10,000 clay flowers that dominate the Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court. The installation is open to the public at Somerset House from March 16th to April 27th 2012. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images for Somerset House Trust)

Demonstrators take part in a mass anti-Putin rally on December, 24, 2011 in Moscow, Russia. Tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied in cities across Russia to protest alleged vote fraud in recent parliamentary elections and to express their discontent with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, leader of the dominant United Russia party. (Photo by Alexander Aleshkin/Epsilon/Getty Images)

Photo by: Rustem Adagamov; Source: LiveJournal

A gold miner observes from the distance how some women miners work at an open-pit gold mine in Nyarugusu, Geita Region, Tanzania on May 27, 2022. Tanzania is a land rich in minerals and one of the main gold producers in Africa, with gold representing more than 90% of the country's mineral exports. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining have culturally and historically relegated women's participation. The extractive sector in Tanzania has historically been a male-dominated industry with high levels of harassment, sеxual abuse, discrimination and misconceptions over women's involvement, and contributions following traditional beliefs. (Photo by Luis Tato/AFP Photo)

The winners of the Historic Photographer of the Year Awards 2020 from triphistoric.com celebrate the places and cultural sites around the world that offer a window to the history that exists all around us. This year, restricted by Covid, photographers were called on to scour their photographic archive to share their imagery of those places that dominate our past. Here: The Brighton Palace Pier. (Photo by Michael Marsh/Historic Photographer of the Year 2020)

All the people we meet, all the things we know, and all of our experiences shape our souls, forever marking our faces. This was probably the main idea of the performance piece created by Chinese artist Zhang Huan, in which his face was painted over by three calligraphers with the names of people he knew, personal stories, and random thoughts. Truly, it amazing just how much we can find out about a person just by looking at their face. Surely, not everyone has the ability to see into the soul of the person just by looking at their face, but those that do can easily see the person’s personality, their intelligence, and sometimes even get glimpse into their past. Though it sounds like magic to people who don’t have this ability, it is completely true. Somehow, our mind can pick up on the miniscule changes of the facial structure and figure out the dominant facial expressions of that person. (Photo by Zhang Huan)

“The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the “death strip”) that contained anti-vehicle trenches, “fakir beds” and other defenses. The Soviet-dominated Eastern Bloc officially claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the “will of the people” in building a socialist state in East Germany. However, in practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period”. – Wikipedia

Photo: West Berlin policemen and East German Volkspolizei face each other across the border in Berlin, circa 1955. (Photo by Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Interior designer Zahra Afridi (R) kicks a punching bag during a kickboxing training session at her home in Islamabad February 10, 2014. Afridi runs her own interior design company. Her most recent project was a Classic Rock Coffee cafe in Islamabad. Though instability continues to plague Pakistan and many areas are dominated by social conservatism, some of the country's more affluent residents have worked to fashion a very different kind of lifestyle for themselves. Pictures of men and women taking part in all sorts of activities and professions – from being a pilates instructor, to a textile retail entrepreneur, to a member of a rock band – offer a different view of Pakistan to images of conflict that often make the news. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)