If the words “gargle” and “gargoyle” sound similar that’s no coincidence, but from their original function as decorative downspouts gargoyles have evolved into whimsically sculptured, cathedral dwelling creatures who often look evil but whose purpose is to do good.

Lookout Below

(images via: Livius, Under the Gargoyle and A.Davey)

Reminiscent of classically inspired lion-headed faucets, the ancient gargoyles above display the openings through which rainwater poured. The purpose of the heads was purely practical at first: keep water that fell onto a building’s roof from coursing down its sides and undermining the foundations. The gargoyles above hail (clockwise from above left) from Ai Khanoum in Afghanistan, ancient Greece and Axum in Ethiopia.

(image via: Corbis)

They may have helped the buildings upon which they were mounted but pity the poor townspeople for whom every rainy day became a walk in the waterpark. The majestic, lion-head gargoyle above once directed rainwater from a corner of an ancient Greek temple’s roof.

Roman Noses (and Mouths)

(images via: Jeff Cook, The Luminous Landscape and Degenerate Press)

In the time of the Roman Empire gargoyles began to be built with lead pipes inside to channel water without eroding the stone. It was an effective innovation, as can be attested to by the many gargoyles still performing their functions atop Roman temples 2,000 years or more after they were built.

(image via: Grows On You)

Like so many innovations pioneered or perfected by the Romans, gargoyles are popularly used today to give a distinctive look to fountains and other water sculptures that don’t need rain to let it shine.

Mooning Gargoyles

(images via: Krossbow and Skeptic Friends Network)

Sometimes gargoyles take on unusual forms that seem out of place with their usual locations – on places of worship. Take the pair of mooning gargoyles above from Germany (top) and England. Some say that these types of gargoyles were “aimed” at competing buildings or in the case of the German one, a government office across the street.

Japanese Gargoyles

(images via: Digital Photography School, Jenlyn and Sosaku)

Gargoyle etymology breaks gargoyles down into three occasionally overlapping formats: gargoyles that drain water, “grotesques” that are sculptures, and chimeras which are unusual representations of non-existent creatures. The onigawara figures that appear on the tops of medieval Japanese castles, temples and old houses are in a class of their own, however, and at some locations are covered in gold leaf.

(images via: Wikipedia and Tsubu Gai)

The most famous Japanese gargoyles are shachihoko: gold-plated, tiger-headed carp that were placed in pairs atop the country’s most important castles to protect them from fire. Shachihoko are often quite large and although valuable, would be very difficult to steal. They’re popular tourist attractions on the rare occasions they are taken down for cleaning.

Notre Dame Cathedral’s Gargoyles, Paris, France

(image via: Architecture/About)

(images via: Finazzo, Stonecarver and Raingod)

With Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral, gargoyle sculpture reached its zenith of artistic beauty and laid the basis for centuries of gargoyle legends and lore. Technically “grotesques” and not pure gargoyles, the many mythical creatures crafted to guard over Notre Dame de Paris are favored subjects of photographers as they glare darkly over the City Of Light. Although extensively restored, the building and its trademark gargoyles looks much like it did upon the completion of its initial construction in the year 1345.

The Chrysler Building’s Gargoyles

(images via: Fotothing, XRoads and Alinbdt)

Completed on May 28, 1930 after only two years of construction, New York City’s Chrysler Building stands as a beacon of modernity and a celebration of American capitalism. With that said, the building harkens back to historic cathedrals with its set of amazing gargoyles.

(image via: Curbly)

William Van Alen designed the Chrysler Building and its iconic gargoyles, one of which is shown above. This spectacular Art Deco eagle – modeled after the hood ornaments used on 1929 Chrysler cars – gleams in stainless steel and looks out over New York City from the Chrysler Building’s 61st floor.

Arizona Gargoyles

(images via: Copperdragon and Photographers Direct)

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary church in Flagstaff, Arizona, is a little touch of Gothic charm in America’s desert southwest. The many gargoyles learing out from the church’s walls take on an especially grim appearance on mornings after the city is blasted by winter weather, causing icicles to grow on the already spiky figures.

Alabama Gargoyles

(images via: Selma Daily Photo, Deep Fried Kudzu and DiveMasterKing2000)

Gothic architecture in Alabama? It’s more likely than you think. The First Baptist Church on Lauderdale Street in Selma, Alabama, boasts an interesting group of gargoyles leaning out from the church tower’s four corners.

National Cathedral Gargoyles, Washington D.C.

(images via: Stonecarver and io9)

The National Cathedral in Washington D.C. looks much like any of Europe’s great historic cathedrals from a distance, but up close the visitor is in for a surprise. The cathedral’s gargoyles memorialize a mix of archetypal American imagery with pop culture cues that will fill many with Shock and awe. Perhaps the most famous of the cathedral’s many interesting gargoyles is one chilling figure carved to resemble Star Wars’ penultimate villain, Darth Vader.

Carved in stone or cast in metal, the many gargoyles, grotesques and chimeras perched menacingly on the world’s great buildings never fail to evoke emotions ranging from joy to hope to fear and even terror. It’s a good thing they’re inanimate, isn’t it?

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Photo-realistic art is really on its own level in the art world. While some may ask what the point is when taking a picture is so much easier, to these artists the point is obvious: painstakingly creating a tiny piece of fiction that looks good enough to be fact is a feat of artistic talent. Is it really possible for an artist to recreate reality so perfectly? It is, and it’s the specialty of the artists below. Their skill is so great that sometimes, you just have to double-check to make sure their paintings really aren’t photographs.

Roberto Bernardi

Roberto Bernardi is an Italian artist who has been painting since he was a small child. After a stint as an art restorer and some time spent exploring his own personal style, he discovered photo-realism. The style struck a chord with him because of his strong perfectionist tendencies, and photorealism still allows him to express himself artistically while being precise. His biography sums up photo-realism beautifully: he calls it an “intense and spectacular” type of painting.

Maria Medina

Also experimental and curious about what she could create, Maria Medina has dabbled in several different types of art, from hat making to sculptural metalwork. Her photo-realistic oil paintings, though, capture a playful beauty that is truly spectacular. She’s able to imbue a sweet personality into even inanimate objects.

Doug Bloodworth

Influenced by Sunday comics, Mad Magazine, and BB guns, Doug Bloodworth uses inspiration from his own life to create his photo-realistic paintings. Every painting has a story, which the artist relates on his website. Bloodworth also paints murals on Lynx buses in Central Florida, and they are every bit as impressive as his smaller works.

Denis Minamora

Denis Minamora came by his photo-realistic style naturally. He was raised in a tradition of storytelling and pictographic art, and he calls upon that tradition to create his unbelievably realistic paintings. He combines watercolors, pen and ink, and chalk pastels to make vivid, intense and strikingly lovely pieces of fine art. Having an additional history as a photographer, Minamora is keenly aware of the subtle difference caused by perspective and lighting when viewing art. He has take that into account and uses those differences to enhance the realism of his paintings.

Rob Hefferan

The undeniable grace captured in Rob Hefferan’s portraits is a testament to his talent. The English artist does commercial work which is stunning, but his bridal portraits and other figure work are absolutely breathtaking. If it’s possible, they seem almost more realistic than photographs, displaying the living warmth of each of the subjects.

D.J. Hall

American artist D.J. Hall has gone through an incredible metamorphosis as her career has progressed. She has gone from painting smiling blond ladies of luxury to relaxing her subjects a bit more, letting their personalities shine through. She has said of her early work that she was reacting to a difficult childhood and re-enacting happy moments at her grandparents’ poolside, where everyone would smile widely for the camera. Her ultra-realistic paintings are almost heartbreaking in their sense of longing and loss hidden behind a sparkling facade. Hall continues to create, but her more recent paintings are more honest – though many still depict swimming pools, one of her favorite settings.

Paul Roberts

Paul Roberts grew up in Wales as the child of artists, and he followed in their footsteps to become a talented and well-recognized painter. But when he became a rock star with the band Sniff’n The Tears, he let painting fall to the side for a while. Regardless, his amazingly realistic paintings remain impressive enough to win him continued worldwide acclaim. His paintings have been described as being rather like uncomfortably realistic dreams, but the artist’s intention is simply to capture the energy of life on canvas.

Audrey Flack

Audrey Flack’s considerable talent can be seen in any of the multiple types of art she produces, but some of the most well-known and memorable is her photorealistic art. She was among the first to use this vivid style in the US in the 1960s, and her work remains today just as impressive as it was then. She continues to influence artists all around the world, and she currently lives in Long Island.

Gregory Thielker

The amazingly realistic art of Gregory Thielker manages to transport the viewer to another time and place. Look at his paintings and your mind inevitably drifts to a memorable rainy day, a drive through bad weather to see someone special, or a specific moment in time that is called up by these magnificent yet often gloomy images. His use of rain drops and weather to obscure the details of the background make his paintings seem all the more photographic in nature.

Antonio Capel

Antonio Capel portrays a brighter, softer type of photorealism. His subjects are varied and have included buildings, baskets of kittens, bullfighters and much else in between, but his most compelling works of art are his figures. Mostly women and young girls, their images are sweet, innocent, and intimate. The talented Spanish painter breathes a warmth into his paintings that few others can match.

Richard Estes

Richard Estes was one of the pioneers of the photorealism movement in the 1960s, and his timeless urban landscapes are still some of the most intricately detailed photorealistic paintings out there. After moving to New York City in 1956, he worked as a graphic artist for a decade before finally being able to support himself by creating art. Asked why they are so gritty and realistic (sometimes depressingly so), Estes has famously said of his paintings “I don’t enjoy looking at the things I paint, so why should you enjoy it?” .

Chuck Close

Chuck Close is another of the photorealism pioneers, and also one of the most amazing stories in the art world. In the 1960s and 1970s, he made a name for himself as an exceptionally talented photorealist artist, and he was known for using some unconventional techniques. He was paralyzed from the neck down by a rare spinal artery condition in 1988, but worked hard to regain some use of his limbs. He still paints using a paintbrush taped to his wrist, working in low-resolution grid squares to create paintings that are amazingly realistic at a distance.

Cees Penning

Holland-born artist Cees Penning was once a successful photo retoucher, but when digital photo retouching left him without a job, he began to focus on other types of work. He works now in several different fields but devotes his free time to painting in watercolors and oils. He says that he’s been an artist since kindergarten, and his oil painting is completely self-taught. His background as a photo retoucher has compelled him to create paintings that are as realistic as possible.

Alastair Lockwood

Frustration and artistic boredom nearly drove Alastair Lockwood to give up art completely. Luckily for everyone who has ever seen one of his incredible pieces of art, he was lured back to art by the creative drive within him. Today, he creates these amazing photorealistic colored pencil drawings, feeling the thrill of being his own boss and creating what he wants to create. His website is full of charming English self-deprecating humor as well as his own unique brand of photorealistic art.

Faux Photography: 43 Stunning Super-Realistic Works of Art

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Live penguins, dead alligators, sausage, doughnut glaze and fake blood: these are just a few examples of the bizarre cargo that has been spilled onto America’s highways during accidents involving tractor-trailers. As the following 15 bizarre truck spills show, you truly never know what’s concealed inside that semi truck riding alongside you on the highway.

Whale Guts

(images via: Weird Asia News)

Imagine walking along a sidewalk, going about your day, when suddenly you find yourself covered in rotting whale blood and guts. In 2004, residents of the Taiwanese city of Tainan got quite a surprise when a whale carcass, being transported from the beach where it died to a biology laboratory, exploded – sending tons of gory, disgusting whale entrails all over the street. The explosion was blamed on pressure from gases building up as the whale decomposed, and it took 13 hours, three large lifting cranes and 50 workers to get it cleaned up.

Penguins and an Octopus

(image via: Dallas News)

25 penguins, an octopus and some exotic fish were minding their own business in the back of a refrigerated truck while being transported from the Indianapolis Zoo to Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas when suddenly, they found themselves on the side of the highway. The truck driver had lost control, flipping the truck several times before it ejected its unusual passengers. Sadly, four of the penguins died, but the octopus and fish were thrown clear and found alive in their plastic bags.

Beef

(images via: Boston.com)

Where’s the beef? Well, on October 26th, it could be found scattered all over the Massachusetts turnpike after an accident involving three tractor-trailers. Those into eating raw meat even had plastic cups waiting for them to scoop it up with, as they, too, spilled from another truck involved in the accident. Yet another truck was filled with tomatoes, but those stayed inside, preventing one big batch of gritty, extremely rare beef stew.

Molasses

(image via: Kval.com)

A deer darting into the highway created quite a sticky situation in Wagontire, Oregon in 2008. The driver of a truck hauling hundreds of gallons of molasses swerved, crashed, and sent the goopy substance gushing all over the road. State police say the non-hazardous material caused very little environmental impact, and it took just about three hours to clean up.

Glue

(image via: Ananova)

Molasses might be sticky, but it’s got nothin’ on glue. Firefighters in China had a hell of a time cleaning up a highway after a truck loaded with buckets of construction glue crashed into a bus in Chengdu City. They tried using water guns to dilute the glue without success, and it didn’t take long before their spades and brooms became mired in the mess. Onlookers even slipped and got stuck. Eventually, the glue was dissolved with special chemicals.

Sausage

(image via: JSOnline.com)

There’s nothing like getting stuck in a major traffic jam early in the morning and being forced to smell breakfast meat the entire time. That’s what happened in Wisconsin last March after a two-truck crash left 40,000 pounds of sausage strewn all over the road. The highway was cleaned up after a few hours, but much of the sausage spilled onto an adjoining road, which probably stunk for some time.

Blood, Both Real and Fake

(image via: BloodCopy.com)

Synthetic blood is probably among the last things you’d guess would be inside a tractor trailer riding alongside you on the highway, but as evidenced by this crash, trucks full of fake blood do indeed exist. A big rig carrying about 8,000 gallons of synthetic Japanese blood known as Tru Blood hit a curb and jack-knifed in Sugar Land, Texas in 2008.

But of course, fake blood smeared across a highway is nowhere near as disgusting as the real thing – and that has happened, too. In Oregon in June 2007, a valve broke on a truck hauling animal waste from a processing plant, sending 4,000 gallons of pig blood gushing forth onto the road and into the yards of nearby homes.

Red Dye

(image via: Autoblog)

It’s not blood, but it still made quite a startling mess: red-orange iron oxide dye, staining a stretch of highway in northern Massachusetts for days. The dye was meant for coloring mulch, but it never quite made it to its intended destination, instead splattering the dye all over the road, where it was spread by traffic for three miles.

Milk

(image via: The Nelson Mail)

What do you get when you combine a truck full of powdered milk and a drunk driver? One extremely bizarre highway spill. The milk powder looked like freshly fallen snow on the New Zealand highway after the intoxicated truck driver crashed and skidded the truck’s trailer for nearly 500 feet. Luckily, the trucking company was able to sweep it up before it rained and gave the entire area that gross sour milk smell.

Rotting Animal Byproducts

(images via: YouTube)

In Cleveland, a pungent smell of rotting animal entrails and other byproducts met commuters one January morning in 2008. “Anyone who drove by the scene will tell you, the smell is putrid,” said a local reporter. A local news station captured the hilarious reaction of drivers as they passed the scene of the accident, gagging at the stench emitted by the animal remains that were being scooped up by workers into trash barrels.

Hamburger Patties

(images via: YouTube)

Emergency crews responding to a major accident in Salt Lake City, Utah last February got quite a surprise when they arrived on the scene only to find thousands upon thousands of hamburger patties littering the road. A truck driver hauling 40,000 pounds of the burgers fell asleep at the wheel, causing the semi to strike the center divider and split open. Strangely, just a few hours earlier, another truck spilled a load of beer onto a nearby highway.

Dead Alligators

(image via: Cellar.org)

On a Fort Lauderdale highway in October 2000, a tractor-trailer that was carrying 26 dead alligators to a processing plant overturned, spilling the carcasses all over the road. The gators were due to be skinned and butchered, accident or no, so the workers simply hauled them up onto a flatbed truck and continued on their way.

Doughnut Glaze

(image via: Q13Fox.com)

Pastry fans lamented the waste of hundreds of gallons of donut glaze, which poured out of a truck  that turned over on a highway in Seattle. A giant pool of the sticky, sweet mess collected in a culvert and had to be cleaned up by the State Department of Transportation.

Honey Bees

(image via: Wikimedia Commons)

Millions of angry bees have spilled onto highways no less than three times in the last several years. In Montana, 9 million bees spilled onto a highway along with hundreds of hives and lots of honey, while Canada saw a honeybee spill that unleashed 12 million from an overturned truck. In California, 10 to 16 million bees were accidentally released and proceeded to sting responding firefighters, police, and even drivers that were stuck behind the accident.

Nickels

(images via: WFTV.com)

A big rig carrying freshly nickels from the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia to the Federal Reserve in Miami crashed into another truck in Brevard County, Florida in 2008, spilling $185,000 worth of coins onto the highway. 3.5 million nickels sparkled in the sun like glitter, and cleanup crews had to use blowers and shovels to clean them up.

Creative Truck Art of Pakistan: Art on Wheels

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We’ve all seen the car driving down the street with a garbage bag duct taped over a broken window. As dangerous (and hilarious) as that may be, it is by no means the limit of amateur automotive engineering ingenuity. These pictures, from the always-hilarious thereifixedit.com, show just how creative people can be when it comes to making changes to their vehicles. From the hilariously haphazard to the creatively upcycled, these insane vehicle mods are perfect examples of do-it-yourself gone wild.

When you’re moving and you just can’t spare the $29.95 for a U-Haul, what can you do? Maybe…shove way more into the car than the car can possibly handle, and then duct tape a bunch of boxes onto the top? Yep, that sounds good.

For many car buyers, choosing between a sedan and a pickup can be a difficult decision. But this car owner decided to take matters into his own hands by combining a Volvo, a pickup bed, and some mad woodworking skills. Note the nice, even, sturdy-looking construction.

This truck owner, however, doesn’t seem to have the same level of car mod talent. This wooden truck bed leaves so many questions unanswered: where did the truck’s real bed go? Who thought constructing a new one out of wood was a good idea? Is it supposed to be an environmental statement? Is that even street legal?

When you really, really love your car, it can be hard to admit that it’s at the end of its life. But when it’s held together with trash bags, duct tape, bungee cords and what appears to a flannel shirt, it might be time to let it go to that great parking lot in the sky.

Apparently the load was a little heavy on the back end of this van, and maybe the bumper started scraping the pavement. Rather than, say, fix whatever is wrong with the frame that’s making the back end sag, this resourceful car owner decided to put some teeny-tiny wheels under the bumper. Problem solved!

Spare tires are expensive. But with some ingenuity and a few of the odds and ends that everyone has lying around their garage, there’s no obstacle that can’t be overcome. Hopefully the guy riding in the back of the hatchback is wearing his bungee-cord seat belt.

We may kid about these modifications and temporary solutions, but some of them actually serve a purpose, albeit a funny one. This shopping cart bike was concocted by Ryan McFarland and can solve the irritating problem of where to put your groceries when you go to the supermarket on your bike. If you’re itching to make one yourself, there are instructions here.

If you’ve got access to the equipment necessary to weld a whole new side panel onto your minivan, why not? It’s cheaper than buying a new van, and it’s not like it’s completely unsafe or anything, right?

Appliance delivery, like spare tires, is not cheap. You can accomplish basically the same thing with a car, a dolly, and a friend or two willing to ride in the trunk all the way home.

Who said you can’t put a trailer hitch on the inside of a hatchback? This insightful car owner knows that you can haul anything if you just put your mind to it.

At first this looked like a wood-burning stove in the back of a van. But on closer inspection, it appears to be some sort of creative vehicle recycling. We don’t know what it’s supposed to be, but kudos to the creator for using existing materials that might have otherwise gone to the junkyard.

Motorcycle seats can be very uncomfortable. So what’s a biker with a bad back to do? This looks like a pretty great compromise between car and motorcycle.

Motorcycles have another small problem for those who enjoy hauling things: very little storage space. There are, of course, trailers made just for motorcycles, but where’s the fun in that? This crazy modification turns the motorcycle into a tricycle, and the car hood into the awesomest trailer ever.

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Somewhere between creative vision and recording a split second of time, master photographers manage to capture the very essence of their subjects. This amazing ability taps into our senses and captivates us with their crafted capture, worth much more than a thousand words. Be it sex appeal, serene landscapes, or tumultuous events, the most gifted photographers show their passion when they shoot, shoot, shoot. Here are 12 top master photographers and some of their best photos.

Polar Bears & Howard Ruby

(image credits:Howard Ruby)

Howard Ruby is an outstanding photographer who has commercially pushed the envelope in all areas of photography.  He manages to capture the drama of the subject matter. He believes that an image can leave a lasting impression that far outlasts watching a video or hours of reading a book. He is on a visually supported mission to bring awareness to climate change and conservation programs. These images of polar bears and icebergs are from his Global Warming gallery.

Visions of the Wild & Florian Schulz

(image credits:Visions of the Wild)

Florian Schulz is another award-winning professional nature photographer with a mission to protect large endangered ecosystems. Schulz has photographed what he considers to be vital areas of unmatched biodiversity such as Yellowstone to Yukon, Baja to Beaufort, Canada, Mexico and Africa. He captures images to inspire and help preserve our natural world.

Ansel Adams

(image credits:The Ansel Adams Gallery)

Ansel Adams was a master of fine art photography. He would pour 18 hours a day into his labor of love, his art. Neither he, nor his camera, knew the meaning of a day “off.” He loved his work though, and it shows. His photographs are legends and some of his classics include Mt. McKinley, Wonder Lake (top left), Half Dome, Merced River, Winter (top right), Rose and Driftwood (middle left), Jeffery Pine Sentinel Dome (bottom left) and Moon and Half Dome (bottom right.) He was a huge activist for the environment and the wilderness.

Robert Mapplethorpe

(image credits:Robert Mapplethorpe)

Robert Mapplethorpe was another epic fine art photographer. As often as not, however, his photos stirred controversy and would be banned from an art gallery. Mapplethorpe sometimes used a Polaroid and stated, “it was more honest.”  A true artist, he snubbed his nose at social acceptance and conventional projects in favor of nudes, provocative S&M photographic documentation, or whatever caught his fancy. He caused ripples in the artistic community and was a powerful force in shaping fine art. The upper right photo is his self portrait.

James Nachtwey Fine Art of War

(Image credits: clinics rising , AGUSTÍNMEDINA)

James Nachtwey may possibly be the best war photographer to date.  Each of his pictures successfully tell a poignant story worth much more than a thousand words. Nachtwey specializes in documenting war-torn countries. He once stated, “I’m working on a story that the world needs to know about. I wish for you to help me break it in a way that provides spectacular proof of the power of news photography in the digital age.” He has jeopardized his life so many times to let the world “see” what is happening that his guardian angel has surely suffered many bruises and busted bones.

Andrew Prokos Architecture and Landmarks

(image credits:Andrew Prokos)

As in all arts, fine art photography can be broken down into specific genres as well as photos that blur the lines and mix categories. Andrew Prokos is one such photographer. Although he has captured many black and white traditional fine art photos, his skillful shots include architectural, landmark, and cityscape collections such as: Grand Central Station Mercury Clock at Dusk, Rockefeller Center Atlas and St. Patrick’s Cathedral at Night, and a panorama of Midtown Manhattan at dusk as seen from Queens.

From Fairy Tales to Boudoir Photos — Annie Leibowitz

(image credits:Lost At Eminor, abc news)

A true versatile master of photography, Annie Leibovitz has been commissioned by hundreds to tell their tale through a portrait. She is famous for her creative portraits which show a close collaboration between her subjects and her ability to capture the moment. In this case, Johnny Depp and his wife will forever have this image of intimacy recorded. Leibowitz’s claim to fame comes about by her selecting subjects to photograph who “Open their hearts and souls and lives to you.” She snapped the bottom shot for Disney to celebrate their famous fairy tales. The play of light upon the glass slipper and the background setting need no written words to evoke a memory of Cinderella. She also a formidable force in fashion and fine art photography.

Valley of Regret

(image credit:Leah Johnston)

When an image so perfectly captures an emotion, this is great creative photography. In this case, Leah Johnston uses her photos as an illustration to her poetic verse. This portrait is titled Valley of Regret. She has assembled a collection of her uniquely stirring photographs and touching poems on Flickr.

Go Ahead and Burn One: Smoking Kills

(image credits: Platinum,Carioca)

Some photographers are masters at giving us images that are visually stimulating if also somewhat shocking. In the top image, Platinum Studios in Rio de Janeiro constructs a commercial image of a bowling pin burning as if it were a cigarette. On the bottom are pictures out of Carioca Studios. This amazing photo production house, based in Bucharest, Romania, is highly specialized in advertising photography. From their Faces Gallery, a woman smokes while holding a baby as the smoke curls upward to form a halo above the child’s head. On the lower right, Golden Pig and Bitches, stuns us. It is one of four from that series to be ranked in Lurzer’s Archive Special Edition.

Snickers

(image credits: Carioca)

In America, the above pictures do not immediately bring Snickers to mind. But in Europe, Carioca launched a successful Snickers campaign with these photos. In Romania, Carioca means felt pen. They chose that name so people could not hold them to a specific meaning, visual style, or philosophy. Recently a Carioca member who will remain anonymous told WebUrbanist, “Carioca is a photo production house. We have production, photo, postproduction, and CGI departments. We have here 3 in-house photographers (which are also the partners in Carioca, together with a production guy). We use to sign the works as Carioca (because indeed every visual is a collective work) and we like it to be that way.”

David LaChapelle & Simon Green

(image credits:Simon Green Photography, David LaChapelle)

Commercial Advertising Photographer Simon Green paints a vivid image with his camera of this princess dressed in red but resting as if dead upon the rocks. David LaChapelle as an artist, a fashion photographer, seems to like to keep people talking even if the comments are not always complimentary. He is a dynamic force in his field, such as with the advertising photo on the left that was taken for Lavazza.

Fantasy and CGI for Platinum

(image credits: Platinum)

Platinum Studio uses all available artistic means in order to best construct commercial images. They blend their visions to create an eclectic and diverse range of photos. Today, they excel in images developed with CGI and 3D tools. There is also a touch of the fairy tale element like in the top picture, reminiscent of Rapunzel with a new rebel attitude. In the bottom photo, a hospital room is transformed with the use of Legos. And who doesn’t like Legos? They can cheer up any place or any image, definitely making it cool.

Creative Photogram and Pinhole Photography

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