import Image
from matplotlib.matlab import *
im = Image.open('../data/leo_ratner.jpg')
s = im.tostring() # convert PIL image -> string
# convert string -> numerix array of floats
rgb = fromstring(s, UInt8).astype(Float)/255.0
# resize to RGB array
rgb = resize(rgb, (im.size[1], im.size[0], 3))
imshow(rgb, interpolation='nearest')
axis('off') # don't display the image axis
show()