Young Swiss photographer Cyril Porchet’s final year show included this awesome series of the most opulent Baroque church altars he could find in Spain, Austria and Germany. His intention was to explore the seductive power of display. What is extraordinary is how much you lose all sense of perspective and depth, such is the overabundance of detail. I like how the odd feature confuses all the more; like the red rope of the ornamental light in the image below for instance which neatly splices the image in half. I could pore over these for hours and hours.

Moroccan photographer and filmmaker Achraf Baznani carries on the traditions of Surrealism with his wild, imaginative, and wholly impractical imagery. Among his inventive scenarios, small human figures—often the artist himself—appear trapped within glass jars or the size of a camera lens; in other works, Baznani more or less dissects his body, as for example, in one, he cleanly removes his brain from his cranium, or in another, twists off his hand, much as if it were a light bulb. Imparted throughout such works are strong senses of humor and wonder, and as such, Baznani’s art offers a Surrealistic take on life experience in the digital age.

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)

“That’s the only way to show how we really are” – sweaty, exhausted, but happy, actress and singer Juliette Lewis said about the idea of a photo collection capturing musicians moments after a concert. Photographer Matthias Willi and journalist Olivier Joliat have persuaded about 100 bands to take part in their “The Moment After the Show” project since 2005. Photo: Iggy Pop. (Photo by Matthias Willi/Olivier Joliat/The Moment After The Show)

At the beginning of the 20th century, Edward S. Curtis set out to document what he saw as a disappearing race: the Native American. From 1907 to 1930, Curtis took more than 2,000 photos of 80 tribes stretching from the Great Plains to the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. He then published and sold these photos, along with narrative text, in 20 volumes of work known as “The North American Indian”. It is one of the most significant collections of its kind, “probably the most important photographic document of its age and its topic,” said Jeffrey Garrett, associate university librarian for Special Libraries at Northwestern University. (Photo by Edward S. Curtis)

“Elat’ma, the Ryazan Oblast region of Russia. This small town is only 300 kilometers (186 miles) from modern Moscow but remains 60 years in the past, dominated by the spirit of socialism. The air of the communist ‘50s can be seen in the town’s architecture, celebrations and other occurrences. But neither its beauty nor its ties to a socialist past brought photographer Anastasia Rudenko to this village. Elat’ma is unique in that it functions as a town for mentally disabled people”. – Michelle Cohan via CNN. (Photo by Anastasia Rudenko)

Daniel Fox inside the Mendenhall Glacier, in September 2014, in Juneau, Alaska. Driving in an open-roofed jeep is no longer the fashionable way to see wildlife – as this adventurer shows. A keen wildlife photographer has circled islands in the south of Alaska, the United States, in a kayak to see spectacular scenery and animals. Daniel Fox, 40, from San Francisco spent three months travelling around the islands by kayak, meeting sea lions and brown bears along the way. (Photo by Daniel Fox/Barcroft Media)

David Hall’s photographs of scenery and creatures off the coast of Canada in the Pacific Northwest portray serenity under the water, which belie the extreme challenges he faces to get his images. For each shoot, Hall wears a dry suit, a neoprene body suit that covers all of his body but his head and traps air inside to keep him warm. Water temperature in Canada’s British Columbia typically ranges between 45 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Photo: Moon jellyfish and cross jellies. (Photo by David Hall)