Japanese artist Mami Kiyoshi has spent 15 years creating vivid portraits of people surrounded by their belongings – from wine bottles and violins to the odd stray pet. Mami Kiyoshi’s ongoing series “New Reading Portraits” is, in part, a nod to the mise-en-scène found in traditional woodcut printing. Here: Sakura and Kazuhiro, Tokyo, 2015. (Photo by Mami Kiyoshi/Galerie Annie Gabrielli/The Guardian)

LA-based photographer Mike Kelley has been working on his amazing “Airportaits” for two years. He racked up racked up more than 74,000 air miles on 25 flights to complete the series. (Photo by Mike Kelley/SWINS)

“Weapons Instructor”, 2012. It’s a well known fact that the IDF trains some of the best soldiers in the world, but at the source of every good soldier lies an exceptional instructor – and that’s where Cpl. Daniella Stepanoe steps in. She travels from base to base training everyone from paratroopers to elite special forces units in the use of their weapons. (Photo by Israel Defense Forces)

“Keep On Trucking, Mr. Lynx!”. Canadian Lynx Study. (Photo by Josef)

Gianluca Pardelli is something of an expert on markets. For the past two years, he’s travelled across eastern Europe, from Azerbaijan to Uzbekistan, Moldova to Georgia, photographing them. Here: Telavi, Georgia. (Photo by Gianluca Pardelli)

This strange coral-looking specimen is actually a mushroom. The photo, “Beautiful Destroyer”, was taken in the Panamanian tropical rainforest where the mushroom produces nitrogen, an element vital to soil health. (Photo by Sarah A. Batterman)

While photographer Thomas Herbrich is not a smoker, he said he has always been fascinated by cigarette smoke. These photographs have been featured in arts fairs such as ART Cologne, ART Karlsruhe, Art Fair Hong Kong, as well as several exhibitions. (Photo by Thomas Herbrich)

French engineer and professional violinist Laurent Bernadac poses with the “3Dvarius”, a 3D printed violin made of transparent resin, during an interview with Reuters in Paris, France, September 11, 2015. (Photo by Christian Hartmann/Reuters)