Image Is Everything

Cleveland photographers Marcellus Nealy and Nicole Matthews may end up inspiring Jamie Foxx or Eva Longoria. Their images were among the 91 winning photos five celebrity directors will draw from to create short films for Canon U.S.A. and moviemaker Ron Howard's "Project Imagina10n." We got the stories behind the striking images.

"Sharing a Smoke"

Marcellus Nealy, 43
Musician/Teacher

Inspiration: "[It's] the nature of creativity and how people who work together to create something must exchange ideas — and Carl Jung's notion of Anima, the female nature that exists in the male subconscious." Setting: Tokyo, 2012 THE MODELs: Bandmates Jason "Ponzi" Ponzuric and Mattia D'ambros. The Message: "[It's] meant to show the spirit of passing creative thought from one person to the next like an exchange of souls."

"everythings magic"

Nicole Matthews, 19
Cleveland Institute of Art Student

Inspiration: "I was in my friend's house watching Harry Potter. I was thinking about how to take a really magical photo. I thought floating would be the most magical thing I could do." setting: Rocky River, 2011. models: Herself. "I got myself floating with Photoshop. I used a tripod, camera mount and chair to get the final shot." the message: "I want them to feel a sort of magic and mystery as to why the character is floating and who the character is."