Michal Huniewicz came to us with a set he shot in India. Manikarnika Ghat is a place in Varanasi, the holiest city of Hinduism, where bodies of Hindus have been cremated for thousands of years. The pictures show you the last hours of a human body, the Hindu way, after it enters the Ghat to the moment it ceases to exist.
The pictures are pretty unique as it is not easy to acquire permission to photograph there. They might be confronting to some, but to the people there it is an every day occurrence.

We’d like to thank Michal for sharing his photos. Visit his website for more of his work. If you want your work featured please on TotallyCoolPix please contact us and include some samples.

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Lucha Libre fighters wear colourful outfits with masks and costumes, and perform acrobatic stunts during their matches. The fighters are traditionally divided into two categories, “rudos” and “tecnicos”. Rudos, or “tough guys,” are known for freestyle wrestling moves that break traditional wrestling rules and are often acrobatic and spectacular whereas Tecnicos, or “technicians,” are known to adopt a more formal wrestling style similar to Greco-Roman wrestling.

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Pointing a camera up to the night sky to capture the stars is a most humbling experience. In reality, the stars capture you; your sense of wonderment becomes infinite. Carl Sagan famously described Earth as being a Pale Blue Dot, based on a photograph taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft as it departed from our solar system. As we look up to the stars, they reflect back to us how all of humanity exists on “a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark”. It solidifies how we’re all in this together and should strive to be kind and respect one another and do our best to preserve and cherish this Pale Blue Dot.

Chris Luckhardt is a Canadian photographer, based in Toronto. Follow him on on Twitter and Facebook.

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Say hello to this week’s best sports pix from around the world.

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In our weekly Coolest Pix reviews we often show you what a messed up world we live in. The Planet Earth series shows you it can be a damn pretty place too.

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Week 18′s selection of most newsworthy or just cool pictures awaits your approval.

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The final piece of One World Trade Center’s spire is seen lifted to the top in New York. A momentous occasion for all involved.

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April 30th is traditionally Queen’s Day in The Netherlands. Everyone has a day off, dresses in orange and takes part in fun and games before getting drunk. This year, however, it was an extra special Queen’s Day as Queen Beatrix abdicated after 33 years of service and her eldest son, Prince Willem Alexander was sworn in as the new King Willem Alexander. His Argentinian wife, Maxima, will now be known as Queen Maxima.
As can be seen from these pictures it was a day filled with tradition, royals and Dutch people dressed in orange having a good time.

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Here’s our selection of week 17′s best in sports.

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Whitby Gothic Weekend, often abbreviated to WGW or simply referred to by attendees as Whitby, is a twice-yearly festival for goths, in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. The Goth culture emerged from the Punk scene in the 1980′s, developing its own music and fashion styles. The festival in Whitby is now in it’s 19th year and attracts around ten thousand people over the weekend.

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