An open water swimmer surfaces as she enjoys a socially-distanced dawn swim after breaking the ice on the surface of a lake near Scunthorpe, northern England, January 9, 2021. Faced by a sharp rise in coronavirus infections, driven by the new strain, England entered a strict lockdown on January 5, 2021, with schools and non-essential shops closed for at least six weeks after previous measures failed to halt the steep rise in cases. (Photo by Lindsey Parnaby/AFP Photo)

Swans swim over a lake, with the air temperature at about minus 35 degrees Celsius (minus 31 degrees Fahrenheit) as steam ascends above the water during sunset near the village of Urozhainy, Sovetsky district of Altai region, January 26, 2015. About 600 swans annually migrate to the lake, which is heated by warm springs, where they spend their winter being fed by yagers, which helps them to survive the severe cold. (Photo by Andrei Kasprishin/Reuters)

The picturesque Zao Ski Resort, one of Japan's oldest and most popular ski destinations, is illuminated on February 10, 2007 in Yamagata Prefecture, Tohoku region of Honshu island, Japan. Coniferous trees such as the Aomori white fir lie covered with chrystallised ice and snow (described as “silver frost” or “snow monsters”) and attract visitors. (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)

A competitor in fancy dress emerges from muddy water during the Tough Guy Challenge endurance race on January 29, 2012 in Telford, England. Every year thousands of people run the 8 mile assault course which involves freezing temperatures, fire and ice. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Two women jump into a frozen pond as they compete in the Polar Plunge at Frozen Dead Guy Days in Nederland, Colorado March 14, 2015. The winter festival in the small mountain town commemorates the 1994 discovery of the corpse of Bredo Morstol, which is now housed in a shed on dry ice above the town. (Photo by Rick Wilking/Reuters)

Zahra Lari runs in a scene shot for the Nike Middle East ad campaign filmed in Dubai, UAE, February 10, 2017. An online commercial released by Nike (NKE.N) this week that showed Arab women fencing, boxing and spinning on ice-skates has stirred controversy over its attempt to smash stereotypes about women leading home-bound lives in the conservative region. (Photo by Reuters/Nike)

Earlier this year, Belgian film-maker and artist Vincent Bal stumbled upon an uncanny resemblance to an elephant in the shadow of his tea cup. This gave him the idea for Shadowology, a series of doodles that interact with the shadows of simple, everyday objects: a banknote, some ice cubes and a flower, for example, can turn into a church, a woman and a hippy. “I draw a few lines and I get my image. It’s really the shadows that inspire me”, Bal says. Here: “Stonedog”. (Photo by Vincent Bal/The Guardian)