Pole dancers in Mexico have taken to the streets to celebrate their sport and show others the skills involved. The Pole Dance National Day celebration saw pole dancers gather in parks, outdoor gyms and on streets, using street lamps, sign posts and other objects to put on displays across Mexico City. Photo: A woman performs a pole dancing routine on a pedestrian bridge during the national day celebration of “Urban Pole” dance in Monterrey June 8, 2014. (Photo by Tomas Bravo/Reuters)

Even the powerhouse of Europe has its fair share of abandoned properties and empty shop fronts as seen in these pictures of decaying buildings in Germany. Photographer Daniel Barter, 30, from London traveled Berlin and the surrounding countryside to capture buildings in need of work on film. Far from being resplendent in vintage glory, the deserted music venues and crumbling hospitals are a shadow of their former selves. German eagle motifs flake off ceilings and concert halls designed for hundreds have not seen a show for years. Photo: Lung sanatorium. (Photo by Daniel Barter/Caters News)

“The National Portrait Gallery, London's annual photographic portrait prize was established in 2003 as the Schweppes Photographic Portrait Prize. In the years 2006 and 2007 it was referred to simply as the Photographic Portrait Prize, while from 2008 new sponsors have resulted in the name, Taylor Wessing Photographic Portait Prize”. – Wikipedia. Photo: “Tic Tac and Tootsie (twin sisters Carrol and Shelly McKean)”. Taylor Wessing photographic portrait prize 2010. (Photo by Jeffrey Stockbridge)

Five-year-old Julian Becker and his 165 pound pet Newfoundland Max have been best buds around all their lives. To commemorate the friendship and to keep Julian's father, a Naval officer who is often away, in the loop, Julian's mom Stasha began taking photos. Photo: Hats off (or on) to Julian for sharing his blanket with his good buddy. Not that the furry beast needs it... (Photo by Stasha Becker/Rex Features)

People seem to have a love-hate relationship with dogs dressed up like humans, but that hasn't stopped the Internet from churning out more ridiculous memes. The latest installment: Dogs wearing pantyhose (OK, we're classing it up a bit, Dis Magazine called it "b*tches wearing pantyhose") is a trend picking up in China, according to Sharp Daily, a Hong Kong news site.

Many powerful photographs have been made in the aftermath of the devastating collapse of a garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. But one photo, by Bangladeshi photographer Taslima Akhter, has emerged as the most heart wrenching, capturing an entire country’s grief in a single image... Photo: Two victims amid the rubble of a garment factory building collapse in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 25, 2013. (Photo by Taslima Akhter)

As these Cafe Taina Coffee ads explicitly assert, there are "times when sleeping is not an option."
Executed by Giovanni + Draft FCB, this animated advertising campaign captures two situations in which awareness is of necessity: when you're trapped in a jail cell with a large creepy inmate, and when a fellow castaway is equally prepared to resort to cannibalism as you are. It's very lucky that the cartoon characters in the Cafe Taina Coffee ads had a bag of the grind handy, or one tired blink may have been their last.

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Based on the layout of Helm’s Deep featured in Peter Jackson’s film adaptation, this 150,000 brick set piece is astounding. The artists, who go by the names Rich-K and Big J, apparently, nail the atmosphere and scale of the conflict of one Lord of the Rings most iconic scenes. At the time these photos were taken, the model was about 90% complete, with an estimated four months worth of work. The time, money and personal investment that must have gone into this project is impressive.