An interactive art installation created by artist Michael Verdon called the “Temple of Essence” dedicated to "victims of the war on drugs" is burned on the U.S. National Mall in front of the Washington Monument in Washington November 22, 2015. People were encouraged to write personal messages on the temple walls and leave mementos behind inside the interactive art piece, which was the centerpiece of a 48-hour vigil called "Catharsis on the Mall: A Vigil for Healing the Drug War". (Photo by Jim Bourg/Reuters)

Artist Pyotr Pavlensky sits on the wall enclosing the Serbsky State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry after he cut off a part of his earlobe during his protest action titled “Segregation” in Moscow October 19, 2014. Pavlensky protested against the usage of forensic psychiatry for politically motivated purposes. He cut off his earlobe to demonstrate how authorities could “cut off” an unwanted individual from society by using psychiatric and medical diagnosis to forcefully send a person to a penitentiary hospital, according to Pavlensky. (Photo by Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)

In this Friday, March 3, 2017 photo, a ribbon on a staff member's outfit blows in the breeze as she arrives for the opening session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Congress (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The annual session of China's ceremonial legislature is designed to awe onlookers with its size and sweep, yet the experience is also made up of tiny moments, details that point to the personalities of the participants and the event's unique, sometimes quirky, traits that a casual observer might easily miss. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

The truth can never be seen right away. Only by looking from a certain angle can we view the true nature of things. At other times, only with the help of some special object can we discern order in chaos. Anamorphosis is a form of art that allows us to see an object only by viewing it from a certain angle or by using cylindrical or conical mirror. Unsurprisingly, the first person in history to ever use this type of technique was the Leonardo Da Vinci. During late Renaissance period this technique was popularized as a children’s toy. Now, however, few people use this form of imagery due to its intricacy. Istvan Orosz, born in 1951, is one of the few people who specialize in anamorphosis. In our opinion, his most stunning piece of art is the one where a shipwreck scene turns into a portrait when viewed through a cylindrical mirror. (Photo by Jonty Hurwitz)

“Exactly one year before the long awaited Sochi Olympics, Vladimir Putin went to Sochi personally to see how the construction is going. After receiving a report saying the ski jumps that were supposed to be ready in 2011, are not completed still, while their price has sky-rocketed from 1.2 billion to 8 billion roubles, he commented, “Good for you. Good job”, and then fired the vice president of the Olympic committee. Russian artist Vasily Slonov painted his view of the upcoming games, giving a new interpretation to the adored Russian mascot Cheburashka, and combining officially endorsed stereotypes of Russia with grimmer and less accepted ones”. – Ruskie.info. (Photo by Vasily Slonov)

Travel photographer Amos Chapple recently crossed into Turkmenistan on a three-day transit visa and was able to photograph many of the sights and monuments in Ashgabat, the capital and largest city. Turkmenistan is a single-party country, a former Soviet state, run by a president at the center of a cult of personality.

Photo: A young couple leave the Alem Entertainment Center in Ashgabat. The current president has a history of breaking obscure records. In 2012 the wheel atop this complex was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest enclosed Ferris wheel. The structure was built at a cost of $90m. (Photo by Amos Chapple via The Atlantic)

The holder of half a dozen world records will walk across the Grand Canyon on a steel cable with nothing but the Little Colorado River 1,500 feet below on June 23. With no tethers or safety nets, the walk will be the highest tightrope attempt ever for the 34-year-old, at a height taller than the Empire State Building. Last year, Wallenda, a seventh-generation member of the “Flying Wallendas” family of acrobats, became the only person to walk a wire over the brink of Niagara Falls. Photo: Nik Wallenda walks across a tightrope 200 feet above U.S. 41 on January 29, 2013 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Tim Boyles)

“Hey! I'm Thomas Shahan, an artist and macrophotographer from Oklahoma. In my spare time over the past few years, I've been shooting portraiture of local arthropods. Why would I devote countless hours to tramping through forests, fields and the like searching for insects and spiders? Well, despite some common beliefs, arthropods (members of the phylum Arthropoda – insects, spiders, crustaceans...) represent an endlessly varied, wildly beautiful and fascinating bunch of animals with surprisingly personable faces and behavior. Often, all it takes is simply inspecting their lives on a closer level to turn repulsion to reverence”. – Thomas Shahan

Photo: Adult Male Jumping Spider at Sunset – Phidippus mystaceus. (Photo by Thomas Shahan; Source: Flickr)