Design You Trust — Design Daily Since 2007

A Unique Shelter for Brown Bears in Croatia

1
In this photo taken on Saturday, April, 4, 2015, a bear chews on a corncob at a shelter that attracts hundreds of visitors and volunteers from around the world every year, in Kutarevo, Croatia. Over a decade ago, Ivan Crnkovic-Pavenka, a retired Croatian social worker decided to help bears become “ambassadors of the wilderness” among people and set up a unique shelter for brown bears in the idyllic mountain village of Kutarevo in central Croatia, where eight bears currently live in two huge enclosures. (Photo by Amel Emric/AP Photo)
Continue reading »

Reptiles – Life On White

1

Most probably wouldnt think of snakes, spiders and lizards as beautiful animals – but these photographs could change some minds. The images show the reptiles seemingly playful sides, from a gleeful looking Budgetts frog, a cheeky leopard sticking out its tongue at the camera and a stack of four colourful iguanas. Contrasted against a white background and shot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark 2 and macro lens, photographer Mickael Leger really made sure they could be seen in all their glory. The photographer and Zookeeper, 28, from Dammarie-les-Lys, France has always had a passion for these less-favoured, but actually incredible intelligent and interesting, animals and wants other people to change their minds. Here: Iguanas. Continue reading »

“Cats In Hats”

1
This photo provided by Running Press and Quarto, Inc. shows Feline Fox from the book, “Cats in Hats”, published by Running Press. The book released on March 24, 2015. (Photo by Liz Coleman/Running Press/Quarto, Inc. via AP Photo)
Continue reading »

Hidden Alien Forest

1

These may look like alien creatures from another planet, but the odd organisms are, in fact, colorful, microscopic life forms found in our forests. The bizarre slime molds, known as mycetozoa or fungus animals, were captured by geologist Valeriya Zvereva. She spent months documenting the common life forms that are found beneath our feet – but are rarely seen. Incredibly, the organisms can move and hunt for other microscopic life forms on which to feed. Zvereva, who is from Moscow, used a special macro lens to capture the vibrant and up-close shots, which show off the organisms’ unlikely beauty. Continue reading »

End of the Line: 180 Decayed Carriages in Train “Graveyard”

1
The carriages have decayed over time, on February 27, 2015, in Purwakarta, Indonesia. Dozens of trains are stacked on top of each other in what looks like a post-apocalyptic world. The old electric trains that travelled in and out of Jakarta, Indonesia, are weathered and decayed over time. The trains were used everyday since the 1980s and carried thousands of people to work. Now the carriages, which were once the lifeblood of public transport in the south-Asian city, have been left to rust among shrubbery. After the trains reach the end of their life they are left at the Purwakarta station where they are piled on top of each other. (Photo by HKV/Barcroft Media)
Continue reading »

Japan’s Rural School

13
Students in Aone’s elementary school during break in between the class on April 9, 2015. The school has only six students, two of whom are from the same family. Similarly small schools can be found throughout Japan. (Photo by Ko Sasaki/The Washington Post)
Continue reading »

The Northern Lights set a Glacier Aglow

1

A pair of ice climbers have been snapped in front of a stunning aurora. Mike Stuart and Takeshi Tani were climbing the Athabasca Glacier in Alberta, Canada, when the aurora lit up the nights sky. They were photographed by famed night-time photographer Paul Zizka, who specialises in photographing auroras in some of Canadas most beautiful parks. Continue reading »

Photographer Alicia Rius Captures The Beauty Of Bald Cats

1

A photographer has captured the bizarre beauty of sphynx cats in a series of intriguing portraits. Photographer Alicia Rius snapped them from different angles showing off their unusual flesh, colourings and bones. Continue reading »

Abandoned Motors At Makeshift Car Graveyards

1
Leaves and forest foliage claim abandoned motors at makeshift car graveyards. German photographer Dieter Klein travels the world to find vintage automobiles left to rust in leafy forests and fields. The mysterious graveyards host a range of cars, including a rare Jaguar XK120, which, if restored, could be worth £82,000, and a fleet of vehicles used by the Allies in the Second World War. The cars, often with doors, tires or windows missing, are parked on the forest floor as nature reclaims them. Dieter, 57, from Cologne, first came across a Citroen truck that had been dumped in a bush six years ago. After witnessing how the foliage had grown in and around the man-made machine, Dieter was hooked and began to track down other unusual resting places. Here: Part of the sculpture park which contains 50 cars, 2012, Sweden. (Photo by Dieter Klein/Barcroft Media) Continue reading »

Tham Khoun Cave, an Incredible Hidden Cave in Laos

1
Floating on clear deep water and reflections near the cave entrance. Visitors can either bring their own kayaks or rent boats from the local community to paddle deep inside the cave and marvel at its wonders on March 2015 at Tham Khoun Ex, Laos. Tham Khoun Xe, commonly known as the Xe Bang Fai River Cave, in Laos, has over 15km of passages filled with awe-inspiring views and wide expanses of water. Photographer, John Spies, 59, captured scenes from the entrances of the huge underground river passages, intricate cave formations and views from a passage high above the water. The cave is formed by the Xe Bang Fai river, a major tributary of the Mekong and in the dry season can be traversed using inflatable kayaks. (Photo by John Spies/Barcroft Media/ABACAPress)
Continue reading »

WonderCon 2015

1
A costumed guest attends WonderCon Anaheim 2015 at Anaheim Convention Center on April 4, 2015 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Araya Diaz/WireImage)
Continue reading »

Portraits From Brazil Crackland

From teenage mothers and fathers to truck drivers and homeless addicts, Brazil’s 24 hour drugs market Crackland has become home to people from all walks of life.

Located in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, crack cocaine users visit the open-air bazaars to buy rocks of the drug and smoke it in plain sight, day or night. As the country’s drugs crisis reaches epidemic levels, its markets pull in anyone looking to get high. Some of whom once held jobs, had loving families and harbored dreams of a better existence – all lost to their addictions.

1
In this March 17, 2015 photo, Eduardo Santos de Souza, 46, poses for a portrait in an open-air crack cocaine market, known as a “cracolandia” or crackland, where users can buy crack, and smoke it in plain sight, day or night, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Souza, a father of 8 children, with 4 different women, says he has cut down on his drug use and has a life outside crackland. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)
Continue reading »

Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend

1
In this April 5, 2015, photo, women wait in line before taking part in a bathing suit contest at the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend in Las Vegas. Many of the attendees of the weekend wear vintage clothes. (Photo by John Locher/AP Photo)
Continue reading »

Pregnancy In Tents Photo Essay

1
In this Monday, March 16, 2015 photo, Syrian refugee Samira Helal, 17, who is two months pregnant, poses for a portrait at inside her tent at an informal tented settlement near the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Mafraq, Jordan. Nearly 3.8 million Syrians have fled their country and are now registered as refugees, according to the U.N. Most face increasingly desperate circumstances. (Photo by Muhammed Muheisen/AP Photo)
Continue reading »

Wild Sau Dirt Run 2015 In Austria

00021736_big
A participant of the Wild Sau Dirt Run 2015 passes a mud barrier in Obertriesting, Lower Austria, Austria, Saturday, April 4, 2015. The Wild Sau Dirt Run is a cross country and steeplechase race for men and women over the distances of 5, 10 and 20 kilometers (3.1, 6.2 , 12.4 miles). (Photo by Ronald Zak/AP Photo)
Continue reading »

Crazy Cat Lovers by Andréanne Lupien

1
According to Mashable, the brain behind the Crazy Cat Lovers series is Andréanne Lupien, a photographer based in Montreal. For some pictures, she multiplied the same cat engaging in different activities – lounging on the table, checking out the sink, stealing breakfast, jumping on the wall, – while some of her subjects really did have multiple cats. Continue reading »

Japan’s Bombastic Street Style Puts New York Fashion Week To Shame

1
New York-based photographer Thomas C. Card spent months in the depths of Japan’s hyper-fashionable nether regions, documenting the eye-opening variety of styles found on the streets of Tokyo in 2012. From neon wigs to reappropriated Victorian garb to gas masks as accessories, he found a plethora of fashion identities that flourished in the year after the country’s devastating earthquake and tsunami. Continue reading »

Elderly Blind Man and His Armless Friend Plant Over 10,000 Trees in China

1

Looking at the lush, green, tree-filled stretch of land north of the Yeli Village in Sunzhuang Township, Jingxing County, Hebei, China, it’s hard to imagine that just 12 years ago, those plains were filled with nothing but rocks and weeds. This miraculous transformation is all thanks to the hard work and dedication of an elderly blind man named Jia Haixia and his friend Jia Wenqi, a double amputee with no arms. For more than 10 years, the duo have been planting thousands of trees in an effort to protect and preserve the natural ecology of the land surrounding their village. Continue reading »

Shocking Before and After Composite Portraits of Drug Abuse

1

London-based photographer Roman Sakovich gives us a glimpse of the drastic visual differences that substance abuse can cause in his series titled Half. By splitting his subjects’ style choices and physical appearances straight down the middle of their portraits, the photographer presents a before and after composite image that shows us two timelines—one of the addict (on the right) and one of the non-user who still has the choice to change his or her fate.
Continue reading »

Psiphon Launches All-New Digital Look

Psiphon_Facebook_Large

Psiphon Inc., creators of the award winning Internet circumvention tools, launched its new website, video, and poster series through www.psiphon.ca along with its new brand, Beyond Borders, for all digital and social media channels. Continue reading »

Orbital Gallery By Cosmonaut Oleg Kotov

1
Kamchatka, Russia

Oleg Kotov was born on October 27, 1965, in Simferopol, Crimean oblast in the Ukrainian SSR. After a career as a physician assigned to the Soviet space program, he joined the Russian cosmonaut corps. He has flown two long duration spaceflights on the International Space Station logging just short of a year in space. Most recently, Kotov flew on the Soyuz TMA-10M/Expedition 37/Expedition 38 long duration spaceflight, from September 2013 until March 2014.
Continue reading »

Mystery Piano On Top Of The Mountain

“The piano was discovered on top of Topanga Lookout, near Stunt Road in the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area. Several photos posted to Instagram indicated the piano was hauled up Tuesday to the ridgeline for a music video shoot involving Seatlle-based artist Rachel Wong. Wong was a finalist in Ford’s 2012 “Gimme the Gig II” contest, according to her biography. The photos showed the five-person crew using a rope to pull the piano up a narrow trail, part of a two-mile round trip hike with about 160 feet of elevation gain. They used a moving dolly on some parts of the rugged trail, a job that took about 45 minutes, said videographer Michael Froton. Aerial video Thursday afternoon showed hikers playing the piano on the graffiti-covered concrete foundation of an old fire tower and taking pictures of the instrument with a dramatic natural backdrop. “It shows how different we are”, said hiker Nick Herron. “Where else do you hear about a piano on top of a ridge?” – Jonathan Lloyd and Adrian Arambulo

1
A person sits at an upright piano that had been hauled up to Topanga Lookout in the Santa Monica Mountains in Calabasas, Calif. For a couple of days last week, a Southern California hilltop was alive with the sound of mystery. Hikers venturing to Topanga Lookout found a battered upright piano sitting on a graffiti-scrawled concrete slab with a panoramic view over the mountains between Calabasas and the Pacific Ocean. Turns out, the piano was used for a music video by Seattle-based artist Rachel Wong. The cinematographer, Michael Flotron, says he and four others used a dolly and rope to haul the 350-pound instrument a mile up the trail on Tuesday. After the shoot, it was too dark to get the piano back down. Flotron says people seem happy to leave it there. But if necessary, he’ll haul the piano back down. (Photo by Michael Flotron/AP Photo) Continue reading »

Beautiful Abandoned NYC In Photographs By Will Ellis

1

From Manhattan and Brooklyn’s trendiest neighborhoods to the far-flung edges of theouter boroughs, Will Ellis has spent the last three years photographing and researching the lost and lonely corners of the United States’ most populous city. His photo book Abandoned NYC is packed with 150 color images of sixteen of New York’s most beautiful and mysterious abandoned spaces, paired with detailed essays on the fascinating history of these forgotten sites. Here: the Gowanus “Batcave” was the home of a thriving squatter community in the early 2000s. Today it’s being renovated into artists’ studios and exhibition space. (Photo by Will Ellis) Continue reading »

Cherry Blossoms in Japan

000213a2_big
A couple walks together at Sankeien Park in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, to have their wedding pictures taken as cherry blossoms are in full bloom Sunday, March 29, 2015. (Photo by Shuji Kajiyama/AP Photo)
Continue reading »

Mountainous Waves by Ray Collins

1

Ray Collins is a colorblind Australian coal miner who is in love with the ocean. He spends his off days photographing it. Continue reading »