Perhaps nowhere on Earth is there a more beautiful place to take in crystal-clear views of the starlit sky than the pristine Salar de Uyuni in southwest Bolivia, which boasts a mirror-like reflective surface in some spots. The largest salt flat in the world provides an incredible setting for photographer Daniel Kordan, who traveled there in search of the darkest possible sky. Avoiding light pollution can be tough even in rural areas, but not only is this mineral-coated landscape sufficiently far from urban areas, it’s also sort of alien-like in its own right.

In an interview with My Modern Met, Kordan says the salt flats were so dark, he couldn’t see anything at all until his eyes adjusted. Then, suddenly, the stars were underneath him as well as above. “It seemed that we floated in open space. Our spaceship is parked in a distance, and stars are blinking with blue, red and yellow colors.”

A graduate of the Institute of Physics and Technology in Moscow, Kordan travels the world in search of the most photogenic landscapes, and judging by his portfolio as well as his increasingly popular Instagram, he’s had no trouble finding and capturing them. In addition the salt flats, the photographer has taken gorgeous photos of natural settings i Greece, New Zealand, Greenland, Tuscany, Scotland, Patagonia and many other locales. Check out his personal favorite collection of images he’s taken, replete with glaciers, ice caves, dramatic sand dunes and the aurora borealis.

“I have been fascinated by the possibilities of photography since my early childhood,” says Kordon on his website. “I grew up at beautiful lake region under Moscow exploring wild nature, spending most of my free time in nature. I graduated the art painting school when I was a kid. Mix art, nature, constant activities and you’ll receive a summary – art of Landscape photography. Life started swirling me, pushing me into the rush. University, hard work on my quantum physics thesis, family and friends… but there is alway sa pleasure in the pathless woods: places I always returned and always admired. Nature is my inspiration, with all the beauty and variety of colors and compositions.”

There is no unifying theme to these surreal depictions of urban architecture and landscapes, save perhaps their imaginative improbability and singular creator, Frank Kunert, a German photographer and his bemused sense of wonder.

Each is at once clearly a model yet quite lifelike, lovingly crafted, painted and photographed. Some show impossibilities seemingly for shock value alone, while others contain a subtle message – some commentary on politics, religion, television or other aspects of everyday life.

The resulting scenes question function, accessibility and the role of architecture, exterior and interior design in shaping both public and private experience.

It is also worth noting, too, that none of them are post-edited – they are created sans Photoshop and shot with an analog camera. The process and product are closely related, and each creative choice is made carefully by hand.

Many works of amazing literary art have been printed on typewriters in times past, but this re-purposing concept takes an old machine beyond words and into the realm of colorful painting.

Tyree Callahan has recycled* (or upcycled, perhaps) a classic 1937 Underwood typewriter by replacing letters with sponges soaked across the spectrum with bright yellows, reds, blues and combinations thereof.

Based in the Seattle area of Washington, the artist writes of his environs: “I’m constantly amazed at the play of light through our moist air and over the varied landscape of the Pacific Northwest. I especially enjoy early morning light–that short interval of time just before the last of the fog burns off–and evening light, especially on humid evenings, when the atmosphere itself is aglow with evening’s hues. We live in an environment that can produce both vivid and somber landscapes, often both within an hour’s time.”

There is something so satisfying about the click-clack sounds of a traditional typewriter, translating the mechanical motions of your fingers into physical results on the page in front of you – but imagine making those impressions in vivid colors instead of black on white. Sounds relaxing, hopefully literally. (Editor’s Note: after a resurgence of traffic to this piece, a reader has just written in to inform us that this is a conceptual prototype and not a working model; the artist initially left this fact ambiguous as part of the project. We have chosen to leave the surprise until the end in the interest of preserving the artistic intent. Also: his chromatic works are nonetheless impressive, though, and a functional version is feasible, regardless, so we hope you have enjoyed this as a pre-proof of concept and multi-layered project!).

Like dreams while you are having them, these buildings make perfect sense subjectively and yet no sense objectively. They are seamlessly integrated, yet structurally surreal … and, like a dream when waking up: the details are hard to recall when you look away.

Jim Kazanjian searches through tens of thousands of photographs in search of the perfect bits and pieces for each otherworldly creation. Some of the results seem almost plausible, while others stretch the limits of gravity, structural integrity and even the imagination.

Per his artist statement at 23Sandy (where you can also buy prints): “Jim Kazanjian’s surreal landscapes offer phantasmagoric visions of a where-is-this world, defined by impossibly complex architecture and M.C.Escher-esque black-and-white graphics.”

“Inspired by the imaginary realms of cult author H.P. Lovecraft—whose wild, cosmic short stories set the mold for much of the 20th century’s best science fiction—Kazanjian’s aim is to redress the “misunderstanding that photography has a kind of built-in objectivity…to defamiliarize the familiar.”

Passing over the border between the United States and Canada near Vancouver, travelers take in this unexpected sight: an odd metal billboard advertising nothing but air. Clean air. ‘Non-Sign II‘ by Lead Pencil Studio was commissioned by the U.S. government to draw attention not to some product or service, but to the landscape.

From afar, it looks like it could be a flock of black birds, or particles of matter coming together to form the edges of a rectangle. The metal sculpture measures 30 feet high and 50 feet wide.

What is framed in that open rectangle that would normally contain an appeal to your consumerist impulses is simply sky.

Lead Pencil Studio consists of Seattle duo Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo, whose respective backgrounds in art and architecture meet somewhere in the middle in each of their works. Says Mihalyo, “Why shouldn’t there be a whole realm of architecture that’s nonfunctional…and really just meant for experiencing space for its own sake with no practical purpose whatsoever?”