“When I was 8 years old, my parents paid a smuggler to take me across the Himalayas, a weekslong walk over the mountains from Tibet to India. It was a trek that tens of thousands of other Tibetans have taken since the Dalai Lama fled a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. My parents must have had their reasons to send me here; they must have had the best of intentions. But 18 years later, I still don't know why they did it. They are not political people. They are small farmers who raise barley and a few yak in a rural area not far from Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. I have not seen them since I left...”. – Tsering Topgyal via The Associated Press. (Photo by Tsering Topgyal/AP Photo)

Japanese Yuuka Hasumi, 17, and Ibuki Ito, 17, also from Japan, who want to become K-pop stars, perform during their street performance in Hongdae area of Seoul, South Korea, March 21, 2019. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)

“Gangnam Style” star PSY's new music video had been watched more than 10 million times on YouTube less than 24 hours after he unveiled his much-anticipated new dance in Seoul, the website showed Sunday. Photo: PSY performs at his concert “Happening” in Seoul, on April 13, 2013. The South Korean pop star's first new single since his viral hit “Gangnam Style” is stealing attention from inter-Korean tensions. (Photo by Kin Cheung/Associated Press)

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).

“24.27 N, 81.44 W. These coordinates mark the spot of the final resting place of an old brave soldier, the USS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg. In 2009 it underwent a complete change when the creaky steel monster became a mystical bearer of secrets. In May of that year, the Vandenberg was lowered down into the darkness of the ocean off the coast of Florida to become an artificial reef, where it would dwell in rigor mortis at a depth of 130 feet. This lively, animate, secretive nothingness, this menacing, wild emptiness would haunt and seduce the renowned Austrian photographer and passionate diver Andreas Franke...”. – The Sinking World (Photo by Andreas Franke)

To produce the images that convey his fatalistic and ironic approach to life, tinged with hope, he needed the environment and knowledge of Mother Russia, oiled with a bit of bribery to certain circus trainers. Enter the Great Russian Bear, the personification of Russia for the last several centuries, onto center stage and into his studio. The bear is recognized as both brutish and cute – Misha was the mascot for the 1980 Olympic Games – and has remained a symbol of Russia since Tsarist times. In 2009 it is the symbol of the United Russia Party.

“I bought my first dlsr camera in 2009 may. The first part of my life is gone but the other i dedicate to photography. If i try to imagine myself, i saw someone on the road, who walking straight to the light. This kind of light is the photography and the post-processing in my life. My pictures express the feelings, moods what i felt under my trip in the last few years”. – Ildiko Neer

Photo: “Path to the shine”, 2011. (Photo by Ildiko Neer)

British artist, Mark Coreth sits on top of the “Sydney Ice Bear” carved from a 10 tonne block of ice to illustrate how humans affect climate change in the Arctic at Customs House on June 3, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. The public will be welcomed to touch the bear, and leave an imprint which will begin the melting process and act as a metaphor for how humans affect the environment. The ice bear's has visited six cities on it's global tour since 2009; the visit to Sydney coincides with World Environment Day on June 5. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)