Pham Thi Thanh drinks a glass of water used as a treatment during a medium ritual at a Hau Dong ceremony at Phu Day temple in Nam Dinh province, Vietnam, May 7, 2017. Dating to the 16th century, Hau Dong centres on a belief in the Mother Goddesses of three realms – forest, water and heaven. It draws from elements of Taoism, Buddhism and other religions. (Photo by Reuters/Kham)

The War in Abkhazia from 1992 to 1993 was fought between Georgian government forces for the most part, and Abkhaz separatist forces, Russian armed forces and North Caucasian militants. Ethnic Georgians who lived in Abkhazia fought largely on the side of Georgian government forces. Ethnic Armenians and Russians within Abkhazia's population largely supported the Abkhazians, and many fought on their side. The separatists received support from thousands of North Caucasus and Cossack militants and from the Russian Federation forces stationed in and near Abkhazia. Here: Abkhazia. Sukhumi, 1993. A house-to-house combat. (Photo by Andrei Solovyov/ITAR-TASS)

Karl Bang's paintings are unique because he combines totally different styles of painting within the same format. It is very difficult to design a balanced composition with realistic elements that are juxtaposed with flat colors and patterns. The faces of his subjects are painted realistically in the Western tradition with subtle gradations of color; while, his figures and costumes vignette into abstracted shapes, lines, flat colors and patterns that reflect Karl's background in China. It is as though there are different visual languages being spoken within his paintings.

Artist Robert Mickelson is an expert sculptor whose medium of choice happens to be glass. There's something so pure and serene about glass. Perhaps it's the material's transparency coupled with its fragility. Whatever it may be, Mickelson knows how to accentuate the element's most appealing qualities. Each of his life-like sculptural pieces exude realism with a refined quality.

Scaffolding holding a remnant of the Soviet Union, the hammer and sickle, is seen on a rooftop of an abandoned building in the town of Pripyat on January 25, 2006 near Chernobyl, Ukraine. The town of Pripyat, deserted since the 1986 catastrophe, once housed 30,000 people, the majority of being workers from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Days after the catastrophe the inhabitants were relocated to other locations in the Soviet Union. The town of Pripyat has remained uninhabited since. Prypyat and the surrounding area will not be safe for human habitation for several centuries. Scientists estimate that the most dangerous radioactive elements will take up to 900 years to decay sufficiently to render the area safe.

Ukrainian Air Force officers attend a graduation ceremony at the National University of Defence of Ukraine in Kiev, April 24, 2015. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

People perform during celebrations to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Vietnam Public Security police force at the National Convention Center in Hanoi August 18, 2015. The Vietnam Police force was founded on August 19, 1945, the day of the anti-colonial people's uprising known as the August Revolution. (Photo by Reuters/Kham)

Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Serhiy Nayev holds puppies as he visits at positions near the border with Belarus, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zhytomyr region, Ukraine on September 20, 2023. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)