“Beryl Cook, (10 September 1926 – 28 May 2008) was an English artist best known for her original and instantly recognisable paintings of people enjoying themselves in pubs,girls shopping or out on a hen night. Drag shows or a family picnicing by the seaside or abroad – tangoing in Buenos Aires or gambling in Las Vegas. She had no formal training and did not take up painting until middle age”. – Wikipedia. Photo: “Ladies Night”, 1991. Artwork by Beryl Cook.

James Castrission, “Cas” and Justin Jones “Jonesy” ski across an ice staking rink with two “You Can” patients on August 2, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. In 75 days, the Aussie adventure pair will attempt to cross 2,200 kilometres of Antarctic ice to the South Pole and back on foot to raise money for youth with cancer. The journey will require the two to trek with all the supplies for approximately three months of walking. Cas and Jonesy became the first to kayak unassisted over 3,300 kilometres from New Zealand to Australia in 2008. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

The Dark Knight (2008) was a visual feast firmly grounded in reality. But what if it had been a little more "freaktastic?" Professional concept artist Rob Bliss, who also worked on Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Watchmen (2005) and Jack the Giant Killer (2009-10) created some truly bizarre visuals for the film. Some are available in his portfolio including The Joker (Heath Ledger), the Joker's clown masked men in the bank heist and horrific images of Harvey "Two-Face" Dent (Aaron Eckhart).

Some of the most powerful narratives of the past decade have been produced by a forward-thinking generation of women photojournalists as different as the places and the subjects they have covered. National Geographic's “Women of Vision” exhibit features the work of 11 photographers and is on display at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta until January 3, 2016. Here: Nujood Ali stunned the world in 2008 by obtaining a divorce at age 10 in Yemen, striking a blow against forced marriage. (Photo by Stephanie Sinclair/National Geographic)

“The harp seal or saddleback seal is a species of earless seal native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and adjacent parts of the Arctic Ocean. Newborn pups weigh around 11 kilograms (24 lb) and are 80–85 centimetres (31–33 in) long. After birth, the mother only feeds that pup. During the 12 day nursing period, the mother does not eat, losing up to 3 kilograms (7 lb) per day. Harp seal milk contains up to 48% fat, so pups gain over 2.2 kilograms (4.9 lb) per day. During this time, the juvenile's “greycoat” grows in beneath the white neonatal coat, and it weighs 80 pounds (36 kg)”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A harp seal pup lies on an ice floe in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence March 24, 2008 in Charlottetown, Canada. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Palestinians hit injured Israeli settlers, center, detained by Palestinian villagers in a building under construction near the West Bank village of Qusra, southeast of the city of Nablus, Tuesday, January 7, 2014. Palestinians held more than a dozen Israeli settlers for about two hours Tuesday in retaliation for the latest in a string of settler attacks on villages in the area, witnesses said. The military said the chain of events apparently began after Israeli authorities removed an illegally built structure in Esh Kodesh, a rogue Israeli settlement in the area. In recent years, militant settlers have often responded to any attempts by the Israeli military to remove parts of dozens of rogue settlements, or outposts, by attacking Palestinians and their property. The tactic, begun in 2008, is known as “price tag”. (Photo by Nasser Ishtayeh/AP Photo)

“The Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is a rare tiger subspecies that inhabits the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It was classified as critically endangered by IUCN in 2008 as the population is projected to be 441 to 679 individuals, with no subpopulation having an effective population size larger than 50 individuals, with a declining trend”. – Wikipedia

This photo taken on July 25, 2012 one of 14 preserved bodies of critically-endangered Sumatran tigers seized as members of the Indonesian national police and the special crime unit inspect the scene at a warehouse in Cibubur, south of Jakarta. Indonesian police seized 14 preserved bodies of critically-endangered Sumatran tigers in a raid on a house near Jakarta, a spokesman said on July 19. (Photo by Bay Ismoyo/AFP Photo)

“Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation “The Cellar Tapes”, which also included Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Tony Slattery. With Hugh Laurie, as the comedy double act Fry and Laurie, he co-wrote and co-starred in A Bit of Fry & Laurie, and the duo also played the title roles in Jeeves and Wooster”. – Wikipedia

Photo: English comic Stephen Fry hosts the comedy revue “Hysteria 3” in support of the Terrence Higgins Trust, 1991. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)