So, you know how I don’t really like having my photo taken, right? Well, I would have no problem being added to UK based artist Alma Haser‘s “Cosmic Surgery” series! I absolutely LOVE this collage meets portrait thing she’s got going on here. Alma, if you read this… let’s talk!

{via The Artful Desperado}

Rainbows n’ mountains painted onto photographs by Austin based artist Alexandra Valenti. LOVE.

That is all.

{i found the final image in this post on the pinterest board of inspired to share – thanks colleen!}

Ah, the foggy, soft, haunting portraits of Amsterdam based artist Tinca Veerman. I’m not sure how she did this {I’m not a photographer in any way!}, but I love the effect. I feel like I’m looking at these girls through a steamed pane of glass. So pretty… and just a tiny bit creepy.

{one day left to leave a comment for the big give-away! scroll down to yesterday’s post… good luck!}

Ah, the muted palettes, mundane subject matter, and delicate white keylines of Melbourne based photographer Damien Rudd. Ok, I’ll be honest… it was the combo of the sunny eggs, and the peach panties that totally got me.

{via Fine Line Magazine}

Ok, apparently these striking images are photographs. I have no idea how Montreal based photographer Jessica Eaton created this work. Mind you, that’s part of the reason I love them so much… they are an artsy mystery to me! If you’re not happy with a mystery, and want a little more info, here is a quote from her bio on the Clint Roenisch Gallery site that might help explain… maybe:

Using a wide array of experimental, analogue-based photographic techniques such as colour separation filters, multiple exposures, dark slides and in-camera masking Jessica Eaton builds images on sheets of 4×5 film that address fundamental properties of photography such as light, chance, duration, illusion and spatial relations.

{Thanks to my friend Patrick for pointing me to Jessica’s amazing work.}

Ok. I found these, loved them immediately, and then started searching high n’ low for the mixed media genius that created them. Turns out that they’re not collages… they’re photographs from the early 1900’s! I still don’t completely believe it, but apparently, it’s true. Yep, during the Meiji and Taisho Eras of Old Japan, photographing Geishas in swimwear was all the rage. Stripes, hits of candy-hues, fancy up-do’s… hang on a second… that’s all the rage NOW!

{The photographer(s) of these images are unknown… to me anyway. If you know anything about them, please leave a comment. Via FLAVORWIRE}

Oh, the amazing, large-scale beach portraits of Dutch artist Rineke Dijkstra. They almost look like hyper-real paintings, don’t they? These photographs, from her series titled Beach Portraits, are not only huge {approx 46″ x 37″!!}, they are also absolutely stunning in their quiet simplicity. Sigh.

{Looking for something to do this weekend? Perfect! There is a retrospective of her work currently showing at the Guggenheim from June 29 ~ October 8, 2012}

Lovely, yet somewhat disturbing, nudes by Vancouver based photographer Daphne Chan. They are so peaceful, soft, weird, and uncomfortable … sigh… I love them.

{There is a really good video interview with Daphne on “HOT ART WET CITY”… great insight into her work/subject matter.}

I’m not sure if you’ve seen my latest series of posts on sfgirlbybay, but I kind of love doing them! The column is called ART GOES HERE, and I write one every second Wednesday {which happens to be today!}. Basically, I find a beautiful interior design image, and using a little photoshop magic, I add three different selections of contemporary art to the shot. Sculpture, painting, installation – yep, anything goes!

To be totally honest, this is my dream job. Finding, and then hanging, the perfect art for someone’s home… I’d get to play matchmaker between artist and collector, and amazing work would end up on beautiful walls. Win, WIN! Here are a few little snippets from ART GOES HERE from the past few months {visit sfgirlbybay to see the full posts}:

{Art // 1. Tape ~ Alex Menocal 2. Lights ~ Steve Lambert 3. Photography ~ Amy Friend 4. Thread ~ Anne Lindberg 5. Chalk ~ Dana Tanamachi 6. Pen ~ Il Lee 7. Stairs – various images found on Pinterest by searching for ‘staircases’}

~ and now I want to go to Italy. Jen Altman is a photographer & writer who spends half her time in Brooklyn, and the other half in North Carolina… I want to spend all of my time in one of her dreamy polaroids.