At first glance you might be forgiven for thinking this image shows an arachnophobe's worst nightmare - a super-sized tarantula.
But look closer and you'll see it is simply a woman covered with elaborate body art.
A contortionist has been transformed into a tarantula by body painter Emma Fay, who used water-based paints to turn the ultra-flexible model into the giant arachnid.
It took the 27-year-old five hours of intricate work to create the incredibly detailed creature - and she created a seahorse and a leggy giraffe too.
Contortionists Lowri Thomas and Beth Sykes were completely disguised by a layer of paint that transformed their bodies into the animal artwork.
Emma, from Leicester, has been body painting for three years and created the series of images to celebrate the marvels of nature, she says.
The artwork was captured by photographer Jonathan Macauley, who recorded the progress of the animalistic designs as they developed.
Emma said: 'This series of transformations is based on the marvels of the natural world.
'The animals featured are both closely linked to evolution and have developed and changed over a long period of time.
'First I ask the contortionist to get into the initial pose and mark out where they will be.
'The contortionists can only hold the pose for a maximum of five-seconds so I have to work quickly to get it right.
'I then keep painting and repositioning the models until they look like the real animal.'
One of the models, Beth Sykes, is also a circus performer, acrobat, fire-eater and stilt-walker.
Other projects have seen Miss Sykes painted as a lizard, an alien character from the film 'Avatar', a tiger and other wild animals.
She recently performed at a celebrity-packed party in the Maldives featuring the Beckhams, Gordon Ramsay, Jimmy Carr and other big names.
She said: 'My flexibility isn't all natural, it comes from being trained and years of practice.
'I used to train six days a week, before school and after school. I absolutely love it.'
Music : Ice Flow by Kevin MacLeod
But look closer and you'll see it is simply a woman covered with elaborate body art.
A contortionist has been transformed into a tarantula by body painter Emma Fay, who used water-based paints to turn the ultra-flexible model into the giant arachnid.
It took the 27-year-old five hours of intricate work to create the incredibly detailed creature - and she created a seahorse and a leggy giraffe too.
Contortionists Lowri Thomas and Beth Sykes were completely disguised by a layer of paint that transformed their bodies into the animal artwork.
Emma, from Leicester, has been body painting for three years and created the series of images to celebrate the marvels of nature, she says.
The artwork was captured by photographer Jonathan Macauley, who recorded the progress of the animalistic designs as they developed.
Emma said: 'This series of transformations is based on the marvels of the natural world.
'The animals featured are both closely linked to evolution and have developed and changed over a long period of time.
'First I ask the contortionist to get into the initial pose and mark out where they will be.
'The contortionists can only hold the pose for a maximum of five-seconds so I have to work quickly to get it right.
'I then keep painting and repositioning the models until they look like the real animal.'
One of the models, Beth Sykes, is also a circus performer, acrobat, fire-eater and stilt-walker.
Other projects have seen Miss Sykes painted as a lizard, an alien character from the film 'Avatar', a tiger and other wild animals.
She recently performed at a celebrity-packed party in the Maldives featuring the Beckhams, Gordon Ramsay, Jimmy Carr and other big names.
She said: 'My flexibility isn't all natural, it comes from being trained and years of practice.
'I used to train six days a week, before school and after school. I absolutely love it.'
Source : DailyMail
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