Michiel Schuurman

An eyeball-popping collision of Op-Art, Vasarely, psychedelia, offset printing and experimental type, Dutch designer Michiel Schuurman's work is not for purists or the hungover. Schuurman studied typography at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, proving grounds of some of Europe's finest graphic designers.

Describing posters - the main area of his work - as 'the ultimate two dimensional challenge'. Schuurmann says that 'how sparrows swarm, how the waves in water are created and how light breaks' all influence his designs.

Click on the images to see them large and be dazzled.

All images © Michiel Schuurmann

Carl Kleiner

Carl Kleiner has a big buzz around him at the moment. He seems to epitomise a recent move towards an 'old-fashioned' approach to still life photography, which eschews any slick post-production in favour of simple but clever ideas executed in-camera whenever possible. Its sort of a return to basics; a revolt against computer generated trickery.

Based in Stockholm, Kleiner creates subtle, vaguely surreal compositions, his use of colour being his real forté. Whether its subtle hits that elevate an otherwise dark composition, or full-on technicolour collisions (as with his geometric paper work), his awareness of colour theory and the resulting combinations always please the eye. He also shoots more ambitious and involved work with bigger sets, sometimes working with models too, but its his still life work that we're really appreciating right now. See below for a selection of his recent work.

All images © Carl Kleiner

Mark Anstendig

Tempting as it was to write a near-fictitious post about photographer Mark Anstendig, ultimately that wouldn't be fair to him. Its just that much of his work feels so now that, with many of the images shown here, he could easily be a contemporary of David Benjamin Sherry, Roe Ethridge or Ryan McGinley. The weirdness, the choice of subjects, the experimentation. In fact Mr Anstendig, something of a maverick and eccentric, has been around a long time, and shooting since the early 1970s. According to his own biography he's not only a professional photographer but also a trained orchestra conductor. In fact thats just the start of it. His life and achievements are definitely above and beyond the ordinary, and to try and summarise them here seems disingenuous, so read the vita on his own website for the full story after revelling in the power and prescience of his strange images.

All images © Mark Anstendig