World Bodypainting Festival: Models transformed into amazing artworks

Austria has held its 21st World Bodypainting Festival in the city of Klagenfurt.

Artists painted the bodies of models, creating spectacular results. Here some of the most stunning photos.

The festival was founded in 1998 and has grown to host competitors from more than 50 nations.

There are special and amateur awards, covering 12 different categories such as airbrushing, special effects and face painting.

The festival's location, Klagenfurt, is the capital city of the southern Austrian province of Carinthia and is surrounded by the Alps.

In some categories, the artists are given two days to paint their models, with a different theme for each day.

The face painting award sees entrants telling a visual story by painting on their models' face, neck and décolletage.

The creative make-up award includes costumes that fit with the model's make-up.

The festival also covers training programmes for bodypainting, make-up, photography, special effects and airbrush.

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