We love Josh Poehlein’s photography portfolios, “Unstill Lives,” and “Ghosts” because they don’t show us everything.

Wait, what? Sure, photography’s all about revelation. But sometimes the best photographs are of the things you can’t see.

Poehlein takes this one step further by taking one step back. Let us explain: he scratches off the emulsion from his prints in order to add another image, often of what you’d imagine would be in the photo but isn’t. A stream of water from a dry showerhead, birds in an empty nest, a giant boat in the distance of a still lake.

The results are even more awesome if you can draw. Which we can’t. Still, we had fun making our own scratch-n-see works of art. And they turned out pretty great, if a little amateur next to Poehlein’s genius. (That’s our monster on Coit Tower, in case you couldn’t tell by the, ahem, difference in skill.)

Scratch-N-See: Vandalize Your Photos in the Name of Art!

(via Taylor McKnight)

Need to convince your friends of something?

Nothing works quite like, well, propaganda… Especially if it has your face on it.

Maopost, a site dedicated to an extensive collection of Chinese propaganda posters, will seamlessly paint your face (or your friend’s) from any of your photographs into a classic propaganda oil painting.

You supply the photograph and choose one of the 35 suggested posters (or from their entire collection, over 1,500 posters), an artist hand paints you as a socialist hero.

It’s never been easier to insert yourself into (socialist) history. And you’ve never looked so convincing.

Be a Socialist (Poster) Hero!

p.s. Take part in the traveling photo notebook or share your panorama photos or storm photos in our forum!

It’s August, folks. Yup, that means: end of summer. And Olympics.

Instead of boo-hooing our puny, non-Olympic abilities, the waning light, and the impending return to work and school, we’ve taken a cue from the astonishing Olympic bodies we’ve been watching all month.

We present to you: the jaw-dropping, body-photography roundup. It’ll make you celebrate all that our human bodies can do: we can flip and balance (some on a 4″ beam), squish, hide, shrink, stack. We can imagine and we can take pictures.

So, go ahead, check out these awe-inspiring projects.

We promise they’ll make you want to get off your butt.

Photojojo’s End-of-Summer Body Photography Roundup

Barefoot Betty’s been shoeless for years… And we can’t take it anymore.

If anything’s gonna convince her to slip into something, it’s the Keds Studio, where she can design her own shoes with her photos.

Each part of the shoe is customizable, from the canvas panels, the stitching, to the lining and midsole. There are four different women’s and kids’ Keds styles to choose from and Betty can include text, if she feels like it.

Our first design above (just for her) features one image of blurred headlights (sides and heel), jet black details, and a close-up of a scary plant (upper).

Some other ideas:

• Pics of your bare toes and sides of your feet, placed accordingly.
• Your loved one’s cheery face staring back up at you all day.
• Perfect for Halloween: skeleton feet as shoes.
• Do a handstand without moving!
• Take a picture of yourself from between your feet. Tada! Your shoes are mirrors.

First-Ever Customizable-with-Photos Shoe!

P.S. Dudes: not available to you yet, sorry. If you’re jonesing for unique kicks, check out Vans’ custom shoes, where you can at least choose your own colors. For hand-painted shoesies, try Your Kicks or Slip-Offs.

At 7′6″, Yao Ming is one of the tallest Olympians, one of the most revered basketball players across the world, and we’re willing to bet, were there an Olympic competition for aerial photography, he’d score heads above the rest.

Puns aside, getting a camera up into the air is no small (or short) feat. We’re not all tall like Yao Ming, and we don’t always have access to a kite or a plane… Plus, tripods and professional monopods are expensive and weigh about a gajillion pounds.

So, we made our own Photojojo Sky-Cam, just for you and just in time for your own photography Olympics.

Transform your group shots, crowd shots, your super-secret, Bond-ian spy shots into “how’d-you-do-that,” Andreas Gursky-like works of high art.

The Photojojo DIY Sky-Cam

Our desks are teeming with tchotchkes: here a London snow globe, there a Mickey Mouse key fob and Sally, the Statuette of Liberty. It’s cluttered.

If you’re like us, we suggest taking those trinkets back where they came from. Not to return ‘em, but to make your vacation photos just a tad… unusual.

Michael Hughes’ “Souvenirs” set began when he realized he was at the exact location of a postcard in his pocket. He held the postcard in front of his camera, lined it up, and presto!

Three years later, he’s photographed dozens of souvenirs in front of their real-world counterparts.

Next time you skip town (or stay in town–every place has a touristy destination), bring your tour booklets, ceramic postcards, blow-up double-decker buses, and Leaning Tower of Pisa lollipop to add a dose of flair to the well-trodden tourist photo. Sally could use a vacation.

Michael Hughes’ Souvenirs

P.S. We’re working with our pals at JPG on a photo challenge! Take a pic of a small part of something (maybe one of your souvenirs), and leave us guessing. Confuse us. Make us say “oh yea, duh” upon your big reveal. Just enter before Wednesday!

Extra photos for bloggers: 1, 2

We’ve always been jealous of Superman’s x-ray vision, and we’ve finally decided to do something about it.

It doesn’t involve Kryptonite, nor an alliance with Lex Luther, but rather a bit of old-fashioned x-ray photography.

Sure, x-rays are dangerous, but they don’t call us PhotoDANGERjojo for nothing. Read on for a couple ways we’ve found to reveal the secrets of high-heeled shoes (nails and steel rods), hairdryers (frighteningly complex systems of wires, coils, and plastic) and more!

(BTW, don’t think you’ll be able to detect the color of your sweetheart’s undies like Superman once did. X-rays don’t pick up color, buddy.)

Photojojo’s X-Ray Photography at Home

See also: Nick Veasey’s x-ray photography. His bulldozer x-ray above combines over 500 individual x-ray images, and his portfolio is stunning.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s Weather Service predicts 1787 tornadoes this year. That’s almost 5 tornadoes per day.

Dorothy would shiver in her ruby slippers, all right.

Us? We want to chase ‘em down. ‘Cause the only thing cooler than 300-mph funnels of wind are the pictures you take of them yourself.

Luckily (kinda?) we’re right smack in the middle of twister season, here and across the globe.

Do it yourself: Chasing tornadoes, mind you, is DANGEROUS. And doing it right requires lots of fancy devices, like anemometers and hygristors. If the thought of hunting a roiling squall excites you, the Stormtrack website outlines the basics of storm chasing.

Do it with help: Want those amazing photos, but like your limbs right where they are? Consider a storm tour! Professional storm chasers lead you into twister territory in these weather safaris, and some are even made for photographers.

Fair-weather friend who prefers rainbows to cyclones? So be it. Rainbows are cool, too.

for the DIY-er…
Stormtrack’s FAQs for the Budding Storm Chaser

for the Do-it-with-help-er…
Silver Lining Tours’ Atmospheric Adventure of a Lifetime

Texas-Based Tempest Tours
(Check out the 2009 High Plains Photo Tour, sure to be a meteorologic hit)

(via PopPhoto)