Look like photographs? Look again... closer... that's right, these amazing illustrations are vector graphics. Vector, if you don't know what I'm talking about, is simplistic type of design which uses pure colors and gradients as opposed to pixels. It is extremely hard to create realistic drawings in vector. These are simply the best I've ever seen.

They are the work of Giulia Balladore, an artist near Milan. As quoted from her website, "I mainly start with a huge idea that I sketch on paper. Then I acquire it with my scanner and I begin tracing out the main outlines of the figure using only and exclusively Macromedia Flash.
After doind that, I start using the linear and radial gradients of Flash to give a first idea of 3dimensionality, that I complete adding more details with different shades and particulars like hair, eyelashes, eyebrows etc. The final result is formed by a number of layers which changes according to the complexity of the illustration."

Check out her great website here: Juniatwork