BEIJING - AUGUST 24: Fireworks go off during the Closing Ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 24, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

“The world has learned about China, and China has learned about the world, and I believe this is something that will have positive effects for the long term.” - Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympics Committee.

This quote reminded me of a beautiful photo essay that I have kept on my desk for several weeks now - “The Human Face of China.” It was shot by Mathias Braschler and Monika Fischer and published in the German magazine Stern.

Frank Schwere/Getty Images

I recently saw The Fall, a stunning film by Tarsem Singh. Like The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Princess Bride, Pan’s Labyrinth, and countless others before it, it is essentially an epic fairytale, but told for an adult audience. While the plot and dialogue were a bit pat for my taste, the visuals were jaw-dropping, having been shot in 18 different countries, then seamlessly woven together into a vivid Otherworld.

The film also got me thinking about art with a fantastical bent. While there has been a place for this type of work to some degree in virtually every era, it strikes me that we often feel collectively drawn to it in times of uncertainty. (For example, the surrealist movement sprung up between the two world wars, and drew heavily upon the overlapping realms of mythology, psychology, and stream-of-consciousness fantasy).

This work offers escapism and inspiration, and often affirms our hopes that goodness and beauty will ultimately win out. With an ailing environment, a limping economy, and political anxiety in the air, is it any wonder that the most popular films of the past few years have been based on comic book heroes and fabled, magical lands? And as technology gets exponentially better, we can tell these stories in an even more sophisticated manner, offering a glimpse into dreamscapes and happily ever afters.

Below are some of my favorite fantastical pictures that were art directed by the NYC branch of Getty Images creative team:

Ralf Nau/Getty Images

Erik Snyder/Getty Images

Chris Strong/Getty Images

Jeffrey Hamilton/Getty Images

Woman cooking steam buns in Beijing, China. (Picture by Jason Hosking/Getty Images)

Have you every thought about eating sick crabs? Me neither. But it seems like we‘re missing out on something - they really look delicious.

I love food. I spend hours browsing through cookbooks, just looking at the photos. I enjoy images that speak to all senses and look so delicious that you just want to have a bite. I never thought that I would trade my cookbooks for websites, but than I discovered the world of food blogging. And it got me.

There are many great blogs out there, one example is Cha Xiu Bao - it‘s written in English but is all about authentic Hong Kong food. This blog gives you a real insight in Hong Kong‘s food culture and is illustrated with great, authentic snap shots.

Thomas Holton/Sasha Wolf Gallery

Currently on view at the Sasha Wolf Gallery (10 Leonard Street in Manhattan) are documentary images from photographer Thomas Holton’s body of work depicting the “Lams of Ludlow Street,” a Chinese immigrant family that lives in a small apartment in downtown New York City.

Holton began photographing this family while a graduate student in the MFA Photography program at the School of Visual Arts. The show, currently on view until April 26, includes a carefully curated selection of images that evoke a strong “day in the life” sensibility that results in a powerful sense of authenticity. Small, seemingly mundane daily rituals, such as a parent giving her children a bath, sharing a family meal gathered around the kitchen table, or watching television together are transformed far beyond basic family snapshots and into beautiful and telling moments that describe the human condition.

Thomas Holton/Sasha Wolf Gallery

Thomas Holton/Sasha Wolf Gallery

At a time when a strong sense of authenticity and human connection are becoming more and more desirable by advertising and creative industry clients, this gallery exhibition is a strong example of authentic work of a very high visual caliber.