A reveler strikes a pose during an unofficial carnival block party referred to as “blocos”, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, February 26, 2022. City Hall banned all blocos, the tightly packed street parties attended by those who cannot or don't want to buy pricey tickets for the official parade at the Sambadrome, due to a wave of the Omicron variant. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)

A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows Pope Francis holding a flag of Ukraine that was sent to him from the Ukrainian town of Bucha during the weekly general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall, in Vatican City, 06 April 2022. The pontiff lamented the “massacre of Bucha”, in the Kyiv suburb where dozens of bodies in civilian clothing have been found, and renewed his calls for an end to the war in Ukraine. (Photo by Vatican Media Handout/EPA/EFE)

A reveller from Unidos do Viradouro samba school performs during the first night of the Carnival parade at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 23, 2022. (Photo by Amanda Perobelli/Reuters)

Mickey McCooper, born 1972 as Michel Valentino in Stuttgart-Germany, is a photo-artist, filmmaker, painter, and media-entrepreneur. He is well known for the broad range of subject matter he is able to interpret, he is widely recognized for his unusual people portraiture, his editorial photography, his photo illustrations, photographic design and his extraordinary repertoire of art photography, painings and drawings.

Photo: Space Invaders, 2011. (Photo by Mickey McCooper)

A Ukrainian serviceman kisses his partner at the train station in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Thursday, March 23, 2023. (Photo by Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo)

A view of an installation part of “We Walked the Earth” by artist Uffe Isolotto at Denmark's pavilion during the 59th Biennale of Arts exhibition in Venice, Italy, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (Photo by Antonio Calanni/AP Photo)

A woman runs across the street next to an anti-tank constructions in central Kyiv, Ukraine on March 10, 2022. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

A woman takes a photo of a mural by Berlin-based street artist Eme Freethinker featuring the likeness of US actor Will Smith (R) slapping US comedian Chris Rock during the Oscars ceremony, in Berlin on March 30, 2022. (Photo by John MacDougall/AFP Photo)