Tom Palmer, the England lock, dives off at the 134 meter high Nevis Bungy jump during an England IRB Rugby World Cup 2011 team visit on September 12, 2011 in Queenstown, New Zealand. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

High winds blow sand across the highway near the original north shore of Owens Lake, now miles from the nearest pool of water, on May 5, 2007 near Lone Pine, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

A student runs for cover as riot police clash with students during a demonstration on February 29, 2012 in Barcelona, Spain. Student associations have called upon 120,000 students to strike in protest against education cuts recently announced by the Catalan government. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Many people have seen feathers as decorative items before. Today, ostrich, peacock and bird of paradise feathers can be seen in haute couture and in the costumes of indigenous peoples. They can be colorful and spectacular in their own right, but how much more stunning might they be when used as canvases for artists, eager to demonstrate their talent for the unusual? Alaskan-born and -bred artist Julie Thompson is an astounding exponent of this incredible art form.

UK-based digital artist Dan Lester combines photography and illustration into clever and intriguing images that really make you question what you're looking at. Is it a photograph or a drawing? In actuality, it's both. The digital illustrator manages to bewilder his audience by merging the roles of model and artist into one entity in an innovative fashion. (Photo by Dan Lester)

A giant new exhibition space created by famed graffiti artist Banksy opens to the public on May 3, 2008 in London, England. The disused tunnel beneath Waterloo station has been transformed by 30 artists from around the world. The three day event, tagged as the “Cans festival”, also invites the public to add their own stencil art. (Photo by Jim Dyson/Getty Images)

A man admires a sculpture in the series entitled 'Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads' by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in the courtyard of Somerset House on May 11, 2011 in London, England. The installation comprises of 12 bronze heads of animals which feature in the Chinese zodiac. The artist Ai Weiwei, who is outspoken in his criticism of the Chinese administration, was detained by authorities in Beijing on April 3, 2011 and his whereabouts remain unknown.

Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland competes in the Vault apparatus final during day nine of the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Tokyo 2011 at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on October 15, 2011 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)