Nine years ago, Tom Carter traveled from San Francisco to China, responding to a job posting that turned out to be a scam. He managed to find another job as a teacher, and saved enough money to embark on a 56,000 km trip through all of China's 33 provinces that lasted two years. Carrying a camera – just a a 4-megapixel point-and-shoot – Carter captured some amazing images of the widely varying landscape, people, and architecture across the nation. Photo: Buddhist pilgrim family from Sichuan. (Photo by Tom Carter via The Atlantic)

This outrageous display of facial hair configurations made an appearance at the 4th Annual National Beard and Mustache Championships in New Orleans. Luckily Las Vegas-based photographer Greg Anderson was on-hand to give us a front-row seat as the bizarre spectacle of facial hair paraded in front of his camera lens. The championships involved some 150 contestants from the U.S., U.K., and Canada who competed in 17 different categories.

“A happy camper has shown he has the world at his feet by capturing a series of breath-taking mountain views from his tent. Russian Photographer Oleg Grigoriev, 35, travels with little more than a tent and his camera taking snaps of the mountainous terrain of central Asia and Eastern parts of Europe. The adventurous lawyer, who lives in Ukraine, started camping in remote mountainous areas in 2007 but only came up with the concept of photographing views from his tent after a memorable trip to the Fann Mountains of Tajikistan”. – Caters News

North Korea has closed its borders in fear of the spread of the Ebola virus. But at a time when the secretive state was still welcoming tourists, former aid worker Andrew Macleod made the journey to the repressive nation. Andrew's holiday snaps and camera footage provide a unique insight into the reclusive country, where he came across deserted motorways, metro stations plastered with propaganda and attractive border guards. Here: a female traffic police officer in the snow in February 2013, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Photo by Andrew Macleod/Barcroft Media)

Joshua Hoffine, based in Kansas City, Mo., and a self-proclaimed “Horror Photographer”, is interested in the psychology of fear. In his project “After Dark, My Sweet”, Hoffine’s surreal and staged images render these fears visible with the “visual grammar of a child”. Through elaborate sets, costumes, makeup and fog machines, Hoffine’s children act out these terrifying scenes in front of his camera. Here: “Basement”. (Photo by Joshua Hoffine/The Washington Post)

Two daredevil photographers have risked their lives to become the first people to capture the explosive moment fiery lava crashes into the sea – while in the water themselves. Fearless duo Nick Selway, 28, and pal CJ Kale, 35, brave baking hot 110F (43,3C) waters to snap the amazing images – standing just feet away from scalding heat and floating lava bombs. Using a simple protective casing around their cameras, and donning just swimming shorts and flippers, they bob up and down with the water as the surf washes over their heads. (Photo by Nick Selway/CJ Kale/Caters News Agency)

With "Art Eggcident," Dutch artist Henk Hofstra demonstrates what it would look like if God threw giant eggs down at us. The eight large, sunny side up eggs measure almost 100 feet wide in diameter. The installation took place in Leeuwarden, a city in the north of the Netherlands.
"I hope it becomes a meeting place with room for art," says Henk. "Art that is different than a framed picture on the wall or a boring bronze sculpture. Art that shows us a different look, surprises us, or makes us angry or happy. Art that allows photographers to grab their cameras and arouses journalists. Art that evokes emotion, or provokes wild laughter."

“As is probably stated somewhere in the theory of infinity, if you give an infinite amount of monkeys an infinite number of old-timey Polaroid cameras, one will eventually take “artistic” blurry photos of historical sites in Moscow which will then be auctioned at Sotheby's for an estimated $75,000 – $100,000. Fortunately for every simian art fan with a spare $100k, we are currently living in the very universe in which that concept is reality. Eighteen photographs by – and of – Mikki The Chimpanzee are going to auction on June 5, 2013”. – Callie Beusman via Jezebel.com. (Photo by Guzelian)