Merit Prize Winner: “A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara”. This photo of Moussa Macher, our Tuareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top. It only took ten minutes of rolling, running, and jumping to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park World Heritage area, famous for its red sand and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder. Photo location: Summit of Tin-Merzouga, Tadrat, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Algeria. (Photo and caption by Evan Cole/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Villagers from Jiexi Jiantan village perform a ritual of “Zha Laoye”, or “Cracking local spirits”, in Chaoshan, Guangdong Province, China, 10 February 2019. Jiexi Jiantan Village celebrates the annual custom of “Zha Laoye” where Laoye are local spirits. Every third day of the lunar New Year, statues of local spirits known as the “Thousand-mile Eye” Laoye and “Ear Following the Wind” Laoye are brought out to the village committee to receive incensed tea offered by believers. (Photo by EPA/EFE/ZNSEN)

Nguyen Manh Quan (top), 26, a civil servant, carries a girl using his throat area as he performs during a showcase of the traditional Thien Mon Dao kung fu at Du Xa Thuong village, southeast of Hanoi, Vietnam May 10, 2015. Thien Mon Dao, a traditional Vietnamese martial art, was formed by 18th century villagers in Du Xa Thuong village, who believed the art form could help improve health as well as fight against foreign invaders. There are currently about 3,000 practitioners including farmers, industry workers and state servants. These practitioners say they are able to bend metal against their bodies and carry heavy objects using their throats, eyes or tongues, as well as run across the surface of a river, according to Thien Mon Dao kung fu master Nguyen Khac Phan. (Photo by Reuters/Kham)

A Femen activist is led away by French police in Henin-beaumont, northern France, Sunday, May 7, 2017. Voters across France are choosing a new president in an unusually tense and important election that could decide Europe's future, making a stark choice between pro-business progressive candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-right populist Marine Le Pen. (Photo by Francois Mori/AP Photo)

Lucha Libre wrestlers perform during the Lucha VaVoom spectacle “Cinco de Mayan” at The Mayan theater in Los Angeles, California, USA, late 04 May 2023 (issued 05 May 2023). The Lucha VaVoom presents Lucha Libre wrestling spectacles and mixes them with burlesque show elements. (Photo by Caroline Brehman/EPA/EFE)

Zhang Jinduo's wife tries on a self-made racing car on the outskirts of Shenyang, Liaoning province May 10, 2008. Zhang, the 53-year-old local farmer made the racing car with the help of his son who is a car mechanic. The car is equipped with a rear-mounted motorcycle engine and can achieve 60-80 km per hour, according to local media. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Queen of drums, Sabrina Sato of Unidos de Vila Isabel samba school during the Champions Parade on the last day of Rio de Janeiro 2022 Carnival at Marques de Sapucai Sambadrome on May 01, 2022 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rio de Janeiro's iconic carnival returns to the sambodrome after a two year suspension and postponements due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Wagner Meier/Getty Images)

In this July 29, 2016 photo, cowgirl Dariadna Corujo winds up to lasso a calf during an improvised rodeo event at a farm in Sancti Spiritus, central Cuba. At the tender age of 6, Dariadna is already an expert barrel racer and calf roper. In the flat grasslands of Sancti Spiritus, a group of neighboring cattle ranchers founded a non-governmental organization called Future Ranchers more than a decade ago to revive Cuba’s rodeo culture, which dates back centuries to Spanish colonial times. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)