If where you live is anything like here, May flowers are a bit lacking. (Possibly from a lack of April showers, but that’s another story.) In any case, for the flower-deprived, check out these, what she dubs “flower constructions”, by artist Anne Ten Donkelaar. Crafted from photos and meticulously collaged, these beauties are filled with bright and cheery colours. Plus, look closely – they pop off the page as if truly alive and casting the most delicate little shadows back onto their bed of white. Pretty neat, huh?

Images via Anne Ten Donkelaar

Prepare yourself to die from pretty overload. Are you ready? Here it comes… with these absolutely EXQUISITE black and white photos from the set of Mad Men by photographer James Minchin III. Are they blowing your mind? They’re blowing mine. I love how candid they are capturing the quickest and most fleeting moments in time. I love seeing behind the scenes shots in general – be it outtakes from interior shoots, or backstage photos from fashion week – and these ones taken during those in-between moments of filming are equally as thrilling to me. There’s something strangely magical and captivating to me about seeing the little “x” tape marks for an actor or a prop during the take, or a rack of perfectly crisp white dress shirts, or a cropped view of the lovely January Jones waiting for her scene.

Are you on the Mad Men train? I’ve only recently hopped on, but it’s instantly become one of the shows I most look forward to each week. It’s one of those shows that’s so honest and fearless, and that’s what I love about it. It’s very real. And I love how that’s captured in this set of photos.

P.S. You can see a whole bunch more photos – there’s a tonne more! – and at full size, over here. Well worth your while.

Images via Everyday I Show

Beauty can be found anywhere and everywhere. And often times it’s not necessarily the conventionally pretty things that are the most remarkable, right? Case in point: a series of photographs featuring decrepit swimming pools. So ordinary, easily overlooked, even considered and eye sore in their state of dilapidation. No clear water, no chlorine smell, just ruins. But in their decay, they make for some oddly captivating subject matter, don’t they? There’s a sense of melancholy and nostalgia to these photographs by J Bennett Fitts, and I find them oddly quite beautiful in all their strangeness. (Or maybe I’m just weird?)

Images via J Bennett Fitts.

How rad is this set of vintage Paul Rand book covers? Bright colours, bold shapes, handwritten-esque type, collage feel… I’m diggin’ them in every way. When the cover’s this good, forget judging the book…The covers could each easily stand on their own as a piece of art. Why, oh why, don’t they make book covers like this any more? Wishful thinking, I suppose. But it’s probably for the best or I’d have spent every last penny I own on more books than I could ever possibly read. (Or wait, I may have already done that… just a little bit.)

Images via sllab on Flickr.

Happy weekend! The sun is shining and I’m going on a little exploration/adventure this afternoon – how about you?

Perfectly complementary to my afternoon plans… Have you seen the photo website Downtown From Behind, yet? It’s a series of photos shot of various residents – from behind, as the name suggests – riding their bikes around the streets of NYC. It’s such a light hearted, casual look at the typically bustling Big Apple. Plus it’s kind of neat that the portraits are shot from behind – adds a little mystery, yeah? Who are these people? The website offers brief little stories about each, but by never showing their faces, there’s still this anonymity and curiosity to it all. Really cool. And the photos are pretty. Added bonus. ;)

Images via Downtown From Behind.