The underbelly of fetish parties has been exposed in photographs captured by Belgian photographer MagLau. The photographer dedicated three years to capturing the obsession with leather and chains, visiting fetish parties through Europe and Japan. The photographer told: “I just took pictures, always finding some beauty in the dark side”. He said that most people were happy to be photographed for the project, with the images included in a new book Fetish Ballad. Aiming to capture the candid moments, he said he never judged but instead wanted to simply observe and understand. Here: Picture from Fetish Ballad book. (Photo by MagLau/Laurent Muschel)

Volunteers wearing face masks, gloves and protective gear to protect against coronavirus, gather to clean an area of an outdoor book market set up at Red Square with GUM, State Department store, left, St. Basil's Cathedral, center, Spasskaya Tower, second with, and the Kremlin Wall, right, in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, June 6, 2020. Muscovites clad in face masks and gloves ventured into Red Square for an outdoor book market, a small sign of the Russian capital's gradual efforts to open up amid coronavirus concerns. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)

Yogis and street performers have been simulating levitation with nifty contraptions forever. They appear to be held aloft via nothing but their preternatural mental prowess. But are really enjoying the benefits of basic physics just like the rest of us when we use a chair. However, just because it’s perfectly explainable doesn’t mean it isn’t nifty. I’m especially impressed by this 2-person version and am still trying to work out how exactly the chair they’re using is shaped at the base.

A member of the United States Naval Academy freshman class wears body armor, helmet and carries a rifle through a mud-filled ditch as part of the “Wet and Sandy” challenge during the rigorous Sea Trials May 17, 2011 in Annapolis, MD. Under strict safety supervision, about 900 freshmen, or “Plebes”, faced 14 hours of 32 rigorous physical and mental challenges during the trials, a daylong, action-oriented event modeled after the Marine Corps 54-hour Crucible and the Navy's Battle Stations. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Members of China Disabled Peoples Performing Art Troupe perform “Thousand-arm Goddess of Mercy” during a show on March 12, 2005 in Guangzhou of Guangdong Province, China. China Disabled Peoples Performing Art Troupe was established in 1987. It is an amateur mass art troupe composed of visually impaired, audibly impaired and physically and mentally challenged people. In the past nearly two decades, the troupe has visited more than 30 countries and regions, winning the hearts of audiences all over the world by their solid background of Chinese Culture and their colourful national charm. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

“Kavadi Attam is a dance performed by the devotees during the ceremonial worship of Murugan, the Tamil God of War. It is often performed during the festival of Thaipusam and emphasizes debt bondage. The Kavadi itself is a physical burden through which the devotees implore for help from the God Murugan”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A devotee pulls his procession burden connected by hooks pierced in his back during the Thaipusam procession at Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple on February 7, 2012 in Singapore. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

A woman holds a portrait of Alexei Navalny and a book titled “A saint against the Reich” as people gather outside the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Soothe My Sorrows, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 1, 2024. Relatives and supporters of Alexei Navalny are bidding farewell to the opposition leader at a funeral in southeastern Moscow, following a battle with authorities over the release of his body after his still-unexplained death in an Arctic penal colony. (Photo by AP Photo)