Inspired by personal experiences, a mix of cultures, rituals, and travelling the world, artist Jim Skull creates elaborate woven skull sculptures. He likes to be referred to as Jim Skull as a reflection of his interest in skulls; a symbol that he has been working with since the 1980s. He is currently living in France where he creates beautifully crafted sculptures out of rope, Papier-mâché, and other natural materials. He was born in New Caledonia and there’s no doubt that the influences of the tribal arts from Oceania, Africa, and North America are evident within his technique.

“A British photographer has captured incredible images of Italys most beautiful derelict buildings – by sneaking into abandoned structures. The stunning shots of hospitals, churchs and deserted buildings show abandoned beds, overgrown arches and staggering staircases. Gaz Mather, 40, is a dedicated urban explorer who takes stunning photographs of deserted buildings – documenting their haunting decay. Gaz from Manchester spent a long weekend touring deserted buildings in the Northern region of Italy”. – Caters News. Photo: Abandoned Villa. (Photo by Gaz Mather/Cater News)

The bloodwood tree (Pterocarpus angolensis) is a deciduous tree with a high canopy, reaching about 15m in height and has dark bark. The red sap is used traditionally as a dye and in some areas mixed with animal fat to make a cosmetic for faces and bodies. It is also believed to have magical properties for the curing of problems concerning blood, apparently because of its close resemblance to blood. The name bloodwood for these trees stems from the dark red to brown sap that accumulates on wounds on the trunks.

Throughout the course of the long war in Afghanistan, Coalition troops have relied on thousands of military working dogs to help keep them safe, and make their jobs easier. The dogs are trained to detect explosives, to find illegal drugs, to search for missing comrades, or target enemy combatants. Not only are they active on the front lines, but behind the lines they serve as therapy dogs, service dogs, and loyal companions. They also share the same risks as the ground troops, suffering injuries and sometimes death on the battlefields. Gathered here are images of these dogs and their handlers in Afghanistan and back home, from over the past several years, part of the ongoing series here on Afghanistan.

Daredevil Christopher Gillette writhes around with a huge alligator he has saved from death. He works at a Florida sanctuary that rescues the wild beasts if they stroll into neighbourhoods where residents can legally kill them. To raise cash for the centre at Homestead, staff put on shows to feed and wrestle the alligators. Photographer John Chapa, 41, and girlfriend Adriana Canargo, 30, took these shots. Photo: Assistant photographer Adriana Canargo dives with a wild alligator. (Photo by John Chapa/Barcroft Media)

“Greyhound racing is a popular sport in Great Britain with attendances at around 3.2 million at over 5,750 meetings, across 26 stadia in 2007 alone. There are 25 licensed stadia in Britain, it is a Parimutuel betting tote system with on-course and off-course betting available, with a turnover of £75,100,000”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Pevensy Bugsy (L) wins the 8th race from Blanemore Razl (R) at the Coral Brighton and Hove Greyhound Stadium on March 21, 2012 in Brighton, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

The Revere Hotel in Boston, Ma. celebrated its grand opening on April 18 with a vertical fashion show. The Boston Rock Gym provided the models who rappelled down the exterior of the 24-story hotel wearing outfits created by the students from the Massachusetts College of Arts and Design and by Ted Baker London.

Photo: A model walks down the side of Revere Hotel in Boston during a vertical fashion show for the Massachusetts College of Art and Design on April 18, 2012. (Photo by Dominick Reuter/EPA/Lauren Fish/Lauren Frohne/Globe photo)

“Li Wei (born in 1970, Hubei, China) is a contemporary artist from Beijing, China. His work often depicts him in apparently gravity-defying situations. Wei started off his performance series, Mirroring, and later on took off attention with his Falls series which shows the artist with his head and chest embedded into the ground. His work is a mixture of performance art and photography that creates illusions of a sometimes dangerous reality. Li Wei states that these images are not computer montages and works with the help of props such as mirror, metal wires, scaffolding and acrobatics”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Love at the high place I (Photo by Li Wei)