Artist Christopher Lovell counts himself lucky to have been a child of the 80s. The toys, cartoons and movies of the era left him spellbound, fueling his imagination. He finds this inspiration allows him to express himself very naturally through his art. Having developed a deep interest in fantasy and sci-fi, he spent his childhood and teen years immersed in every aspect of creativity he could access.

In this photo taken on August 26, 2017, a contestant of the “fantasy” category prepares to be judged during the Daegu International Bodypainting Festival in Daegu, South Korea. The bodies of dozens of female models turned into living canvases this weekend as they allowed delicate brush strokes and flamboyant illustrations to cover up their bare skin. They are part of the 2017 Daegu International Bodypainting Festival along with top artists from 10 countries that runs until August 27 in South Korea's southeastern city of Daegu. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)

Lopez Cardona of Cuba and Oleksandr Khyzhniak of Ukraine appear inseparable in the 80kg semi-final on August 4, 2024, but it was Khyzhniak who progressed to the final. (Photo by Peter Cziborra/Reuters)

Nana Takano and Kaito Toyoshima, winners of the Shanghai preliminary and Asian Championship, compete in the final of the World Tango Championship final in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 27 August 2024. (Photo by Juan Ignacio Roncoroni/EPA)

Andrey Pavlov is a photographer and he takes photographs of ants in stunning poses along with certain props that make the images even more fantasy-like. You’ve probably never seen ant photographs like these before.

Australian artist Polixeni Papapetrou trends the line between fantasy/theatre, mythology/reality, archetype/play, male/female, child/adult and animal/human. As with all her work the series The Dreamkeepers tells a story that includes her autobiographical relationship with her children, but it also says a lot more about the condition of childhood - its place in our culture and how we react to images of children in photography.

The princesses that star in Disney’s classic movies inhabit beautiful fantasy worlds, but it apparently doesn’t take much to turn these into dark, nightmarish realms. Jeffrey Thomas, a cartoon artist and character designer in California, reimagines what our favorite Disney heroines would look like if their worlds were a whole lot darker and creepier.

US Vogue’s top fashion editor works with photographers to inject style with sci-fi and fantasy. A new book, “Stoppers: Photographs from My Life at Vogue” by Phyllis Posnick and Vogue’s chief editor, Anna Wintour, highlights the results. Here: Surburban Woman #10, Mountainville, New York, August 2006. (Photo by Steven Klein)