In this series of vivid images, photographer Kevin Cole takes us on a high definition journey to historic buildings and places in America’s West, framing each one in a new light and in some cases turning the mundane into the sublime.

What ever would Maverick say about this? An F-14 Tomcat like the one he flew in Top Gun making its final journey – by road! Once it was roaring off aircraft carriers and thundering through the valleys of the Nevada Test Range. Now it’s holding up traffic, no longer feeling “the need for speed”.

The 20th Century was the most violent in human history, and a decade into the 21st century things look ominously similar. So it’s little wonder that abandoned tanks, planes and armoured vehicles litter the streets and deserts of the more wartorn regions of the world.

Art For the Sky is a unique project designed to bring diverse groups together, dissolve social boundaries and tackle the problems we face as individuals and society. Environmental artist Daniel Dancer has spent ten years travelling the world to create over 100 images using people, which must be viewed from above.

The North of England is a wild and windswept region, tempered by the relative civility of Roman occupation and forged thereafter by centuries of bloodshed. From Viking raiders to the Norman Conquest and the Border Wars to the Victorians, history and folklore is deeply ingrained within the fabric of this rugged region.

Scale models and wartime dioramas present a unique and visually arresting image of history. Stories retold range from epic battles to heroic events, while modellers take great care to accurately recreate even the most brief moment in our history. Here we take a look at the work of a master – military historian and artist Sheperd Paine.

Of all the abandoned places that once catered to the needs of the public, hospitals are among the most chilling. Despite traditionally being places of healing, grim reality saw to it that many who came under the treatment of Victorian and Edwardian sanatoriums never saw the outside world again.

These two images capture a unique moment in Cold War history – one photograph taken by an American pilot, the other by a Russian. Intercepts like this were common at the time, but even if adversary pilots both had their cameras with them, it is highly unusual that both pictures should finally find their way into the same collection.

Wonder and enchantment are two words that spring to mind when viewing the world through an infrared lens. Whatever your personal photography taste, there’s no question that infrared imagery spices up bland everyday life with a touch of the serene.

The main thing about road signs is that they’re not supposed to be funny – which makes the following examples all the more amusing! It’s easy to imagine a group of gloomy civil servants debating whether or not the bike on the sign should have a cyclist on it, but these 20 images prove that even those in charge of our roads have a sense of humour.

They say any landing you walk away from is a good one. But does the same thing go for ejecting? In this amazing sequence of footage we see aircraft colliding with one another, overshooting aircraft carrier runways and simply breaking apart in mid-air – with the pilots at the controls “banging out” out at the last possible second.

This mighty delta forms the unmistakable outline of the iconic Vulcan bomber, Britain’s Cold War nuclear deterrent. The Vulcan in the picture, XH558, is the last flying example of the type, kept alive by a dedicated team of enthusiasts and the unconditional support of her fans. But not all Vulcans have been so lucky…

The spellbinding Pinnacles in the eponymous Pinnacles Desert are among Australia’s most impressive limestone rock formations. Created from the seashells of an ancient ocean rich in marine life, the shells were broken down into lime rich sand blown inland to form high dunes. From these dunes, the formation of the Pinnacles emerged.

Some time ago Weburbanist did a fantastic article entitled 7 Submerged Wonders of the World, highlighting an astounding selection of underwater cities, monuments and statues. Here’s one with a twist! This semi-submerged bell tower is all that can be seen of the church at Curon Venosta, a small Northern Italian town flooded to make way for an artificial lake.

The mysterious Nasca Lines etched into the desert of Peru are among the world’s most puzzling ancient geoglyphs. Photographer Christian Haugen has captured one of the many carvings fantastically, which also include stylised hummingbirds, monkeys, sharks, lizards and so on.

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, and these amazing images prove the old adage beyond a shadow of a doubt. The viewer is transported on a journey of the imagination through the history of these old houses and the memories within their walls – some of them physical, others left to the individual. Come in and take a look…