A devotee of the Chinese shrine of Kathu Shrine, pierces his cheeks with umbrellas during a procession of Vegetarian Festival on October 4, 2011 in Phuket, Thailand. Ritual Vegetarianism in Phuket Island traces it roots back to the early 1800's. The festival begins on the first evening of the ninth lunar month and lasts for nine days. Participants in the festival perform acts of body piercing as a means of shifting evil spirits from individuals onto themselves and bring the community good luck. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Getty Images)

“Kavadi Attam is a dance performed by the devotees during the ceremonial worship of Murugan, the Tamil God of War. It is often performed during the festival of Thaipusam and emphasizes debt bondage. The Kavadi itself is a physical burden through which the devotees implore for help from the God Murugan”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A devotee pulls his procession burden connected by hooks pierced in his back during the Thaipusam procession at Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple on February 7, 2012 in Singapore. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Participants learn how to survive in the wild, including tips on how to make it through a zombie invastion at a “Zombie First Responder” course March 11, 2012 in Sandy, Oregon. In an intensive 2-day curriculum participants train in everything from wilderness and urban survival, nerf or nerd weaponry, stealth and evasion, and proper zombie “disposal”. (Photo by Natalie Behring/Getty Images)

“Hadhramaut (Hadhramout, Hadramawt or Ḥaḍramūt) is the formerly independent Qu'aiti state and Kathiri sultanate encompassing a historical region of the south Arabian Peninsula along the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Sea, extending eastwards from Yemen to the borders of the Dhofar region of Oman. The name of the region is currently retained in the smaller Hadhramaut Governorate of the Republic of Yemen. The people of Hadhramaut are called Hadhramis and speak Hadhrami Arabic”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Wadi Hadhramaut, Hadhramaut Governorate, Yemen: A woman in abayas and traditional straw hats - conical witches hats, known as madhalla. (Photo by Eric Lafforgue)

It is already one of the world’s most iconic cities, but this incredible collection shows how much Paris has changed over the course of the past century. The collection, by French photographer Julien Knez, shows Paris in the 1940s against a backdrop of how the same places look today. Knez says he put the striking collection together to celebrate the 71st anniversary of the city’s liberation from Nazi control in August 1944. Here: Soldiers outside the Hotel De Ville in the 1940s. (Photo by Julien Knez/Caters News)

Italian artist Marcello Barenghi draws incredibly realistic everyday objects that appear almost three dimensional with the help of colored pencils and occasional enhancements using markers or watercolor. Each work appears ever so slightly stylized which I think sets these apart from similar hyperrealistic drawings that are meant to ‘trick’ a viewer. If you want to see more, Barenghi runs a YouTube channel where he documents the process of almost every drawing.

Anil Saxena from Mumbay, India creates amazing photo manipulations using Photoshop. These surreal photos will truly amaze you. Anil started out doing conventional darkroom photo composition and retouching them before moving these skills over to Photoshop. He is a true perfectionist: “If the image is a success but my work goes unnoticed, I’m doing my job well.” says Anil. I think we definitely should notice these works, because what he does is amazing!

Armin Senoner conceptualizes class system based semiotic alpine escape all visuals courtesy of armin senoner. From birth, every human is organized through the hierarchical class system. Without regard to personal characteristics in the least, each is donned with a label; lower, middle, or upper. Society at large is innately regulated because by it, the rich do anything to remain at the top, the middle tries to overthrow the rich, and the poor just try to survive. Modern times, though less brutal, is no less restrained by the unspoken rules of social division.