Pedestrians use their smartphones to capture the newly illuminated Christmas tree at the Syntagma square in Athens on November 23, 2023. (Photo by Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP Photo)
A reveler strikes a pose during an unofficial carnival block party referred to as “blocos”, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, February 26, 2022. City Hall banned all blocos, the tightly packed street parties attended by those who cannot or don't want to buy pricey tickets for the official parade at the Sambadrome, due to a wave of the Omicron variant. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)
There are many types of collections. Some are formed by purposefully collecting certain objects, such as stamps or coins. However, some collections are only a byproduct of an obsession, a quirk of mind. For example, Paul Brockmann got into the habit of buying his girlfriend and later his wife a dress every time they went ballroom dancing. It might seem excessive to some, but it was his way of showing his affection. Overtime, this collection grew to be enormous, counting 55,000 dresses in total. Basic math tells us that either they went ballroom dancing three times per day for every day of their lives, or he bought them in huge bundles every time.
Images from a snake slaughterhouse at Kapetakan village in Indonesia’s West Java province. Wakira, who is known as “Boss Cobra”, owns the slaughterhouse that produces snake meat and skin. Snake meat is believed by some to be a remedy for skin diseases and asthma, as well as an aid to increase virility. The snake skins, measuring in the hundreds of metres, are sold to bag factories in the West and Central Java provinces on a monthly basis. The price of a bag made from snake skin costs between 150,000 rupiah ($ 15.60) and 300,000 rupiah ($31.20), depending on its size. That snakeskin handbag you’ll buy is costing a hell of a lot more.
Bride to be Lauren Cechak expresses her dislike for a wedding gown after trying it on during Filene's Basement's annual sale July 30, 2010 in Bethesda, Maryland. Hundreds of brides to be and their shopping teams line up early waiting to buy gowns at drastically low prices during the annual sale, dubbed the “Running of the Brides”. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Russian police cadets march during general rehearsal of the Victory Day parade on the Dvortsovaya Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, 07 May 2021. The military parade marking the 76th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in the World War II will take place on the Dvortsovaya Square on 09 May 2021. (Photo by Anatoly Maltsev/EPA/EFE)