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.

“The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) has released the largest-ever three-dimensional map of massive galaxies and distant black holes, which will help astronomers explain the mysterious “dark matter” and “dark energy” that scientists know makes up 96 percent of the Universe”. – SDSS-III

“With the traditional tapping-ritual, the Oktoberfest has been opened on saturday, September 22, 2012. Despite the rather wet weather on saturday, the first weekend was te xpeted sucess: Approximately 850.000 guests from Munich, Bavaria, the rest of Germany and from all over the world came to visit the 179th Oktoberfest on the opening weekend. About one million liters of beer and about nine oxen have already been sold”. – Oktoberfest.de. (Photo by ◊CHЄЄKY◊MINX◊PHOTO◊DIARY◊)

A muddied family photograph sits on a hallway stairwell in an apartment block on March 17, 2011 in Kensennuma, Japan. Residents were allowed back to their homes today and began the massive cleanup operation caused by a 9.0 magnitude strong earthquake that struck on March 11 off the coast of north-eastern Japan. The quake triggered a tsunami wave of up to 10 metres which engulfed large parts of north-eastern Japan. The death toll has risen past 5000 with at least 8600 people still missing. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

A man cries in a graveyard during the funeral of Nasser Ali Afglio, a young Libyan rebel killed during battle with government troops loyal to Libyan ruler Moammar Gaddafi April 19, 2011 in Misrata, Libya. The graveyard where Nasser was buried has hundreds of simple concrete graves; many dozens are those that have been killed during the last two months of fighting in the besieged town. Thousands of civilians are trapped in Misrata as fighting continues between Libyan government forces that have surrounded the city and anti-government rebels there. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)