The photography of Art Wolfe covers the globe, capturing landscapes, wildlife, and cultures from every continent; here he talks through a selection of his favourite images. Art Wolfe is an American photographer and conservationist. His photographs have been noted by environmental advocacy groups for their “stunning” visual impact. Here: Snowy owlets (Bubo scandiacus), Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, USA. (Photo by Art Wolfe/Art Wolfe Stock)

The great vector artist OG Abel was a diamond in the rough. Growing up in violent surroundings, OG Abel found shelter in art. With an unsupportive father who always told him artist die broke, his only creative activity was strongly connected to religion. Having a church-going mother, OG Abel says he would spend hour drawing images from the Bible, his favorite pictures being those of animals, especially lions. He would also study the elaborate paintings in churches, the architecture, and/or the sculptures.

A photographer has taken an explosive set of images by igniting gasoline in midair. Rob Prideaux, 45, photographs fire and smoke and then creates patterns from it. The San Francisco-based artist captures the fire in the split second its visible by using highly arcane methods. Rob's Smoke and Fire series is his quest “to shape one of the more uncontrollable phenomena in nature”. (Photo by Rob Prideaux)

The Art Car Parade is the highlight of a three-day celebration of the drive to create: Art Car Weekend. But it all began with a donated 1967 Ford staton wagon and $800 worth of paint and plastic fruit. And now, 26 years later, it attracts 250+ vehicles (and other entries) from 23 states, Canada, and Mexico. Photo: An art car is seen on Allen Parkway during the 26th Annual Houston Art Car Parade on May 11 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Scott Halleran)

Catherine Nelson is a visual artist who uses the digital medium to paint images together into personal and imaginary landscapes. Trained as a painter in Sydney and London and with years of experience in the creation of visual effects for feature films like Moulin Rouge and Harry Potter, she now has dedicated her skills to her own art work combining the techniques from both these worlds into a new contemporary art medium. Her latest series have been exhibited in Australia, New Zealand, China, Korea, USA and Europe and have captivated audiences and art collectors in cities like Sydney, Paris, Los Angeles, Beijing and Seoul.

“Greyhound racing is a popular sport in Great Britain with attendances at around 3.2 million at over 5,750 meetings, across 26 stadia in 2007 alone. There are 25 licensed stadia in Britain, it is a Parimutuel betting tote system with on-course and off-course betting available, with a turnover of £75,100,000”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Pevensy Bugsy (L) wins the 8th race from Blanemore Razl (R) at the Coral Brighton and Hove Greyhound Stadium on March 21, 2012 in Brighton, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

“Li Wei (born in 1970, Hubei, China) is a contemporary artist from Beijing, China. His work often depicts him in apparently gravity-defying situations. Wei started off his performance series, Mirroring, and later on took off attention with his Falls series which shows the artist with his head and chest embedded into the ground. His work is a mixture of performance art and photography that creates illusions of a sometimes dangerous reality. Li Wei states that these images are not computer montages and works with the help of props such as mirror, metal wires, scaffolding and acrobatics”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Love at the high place I (Photo by Li Wei)