I'm familiar with most of the photos you describe and really enjoy coming across them when I look through my photos. For desktop backgrounds I use either flat

I'm familiar with most of the photos you describe and really enjoy coming across them when I look through my photos. For desktop backgrounds I use either flat colors, whatever I like that comes with Linux Mint, or an image I like from my collection of photographs, which stays until I feel both bored of it whatever I'm doing at the moment. No faces- too distracting.