It has taken 3,000 hours and 34 years to make – but the results are incredible. Artist Scott Weaver has created a huge but incredibly detailed model of San Francisco using 100,000 toothpicks. The work entitled Rolling Through the Bay also doubles as a marble run. Ping pong balls dropped on several ramps at the top of the model follow several “tours” through the city. They pass matchstick replicas of sights such as Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge and the city's trademark terraced houses on steep hills.

Photographer Frank Relle takes long-exposure images of houses in New Orleans. Says Relle, “The city at night comes alive for me. I imagine stories about the people’s lives inside the homes based on the evidence on the outside. My photographs become a portrait without the person. The night obscures details and the lack of information gives possibility”. Photo: “Telemachus”. Farragut Street, New Orleans, La. Nov. 2006. (Photo by Frank Relle)

With six-inch fangs and weighing in at 600lb, Saber and Janda are no ­ordinary house cats. Yet these huge Bengal tigers live in Janice Haley’s suburban garden and are treated like ordinary pets. They are fed by hand, get strokes and cuddles, and white male Saber goes to sleep sucking on her finger. Janice’s life changed 20 years ago when she spotted an advert for a tiger training course in her local paper – and two years later arrived home with her first cub. Then in 2002 she bought Janda, who is now 12. Photo: The pair are best of friends. (Photo by Ruaridh Connellan/Barcroft Media)

In the past people used to bury their loved ones or turn them into ashes. However, now there is a completely new possibility. Since having an urn with ashes in your house may be a bit weird, you may want to choose the option of turning your deceased relative into a diamond. Yes, diamond! You’ve heard us correctly. By using immense heat and pressure, the ashes you get after cremating a person can be turned into a real diamond. After this, the diamond can be left as it is, and stored in a jewelry box, or it can be used as a piece of jewelry, such as a ring or a pendant, allowing you to always keep your loved one close to your heart. (Photo by djd/Algordanza memorial diamonds)

“Natural History” is a series of completely candid single exposure images that merge the living and the dead to create allegorical narratives of our troubled co-existence with nature. Ghost-like reflections of modern visitors viewing wildlife dioramas are juxtaposed against the antique taxidermied subjects housed behind thick glass, their faces molded into permanent expressions of fear, aggression or fleeting passivity. After decades of over-hunting, climate change, poaching and destruction of habitat, many of these long dead diorama specimens now represent endangered or completely extinct species”. – Traer Scott. (Photo by Traer Scott)

People are often fascinated by things that baffle them. For example, Livia Marin creates porcelain pottery that looks as if it has partially melted. This pottery might serve little purpose, yet it is definitely a curious thing to have in your house. This set of pictures shows off her “Nomad Patterns” series of deformed vases, pitchers, and teacups. The most appealing thing about these pieces of art is that the patterns on the “melted” parts are as beautiful as on the rest of the pottery. (Photo by Livia Marin)

These are the stunning images of what looks like a picturesque winter wonderland – but actually shot in the middle of summer. Amateur photographer Catherine Perkinton, 45, has spent the summer travelling around the country to create the fabulous images by utilising infra-red. (Photo by Catherine Perkinton/SWNS/ABACAPress)

A ballet dancer stretches backstage during Nacho Duato's “The Nutcracker” at the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia November 21, 2015. For theatregoers in St Petersburg, Nacho Duato's “The Nutcracker” demonstrates the global appeal of a Christmas classic. When the curtain rises at the Mikhailovsky Theatre, among the oldest opera and ballet houses in Russia, it's the culmination of hundreds of hours of toil and sweat by dancers, costume makers, set designers and musicians playing the famous score by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. (Photo by Grigory Dukor/Reuters)