At the beginning of the 20th century, Edward S. Curtis set out to document what he saw as a disappearing race: the Native American. From 1907 to 1930, Curtis took more than 2,000 photos of 80 tribes stretching from the Great Plains to the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. He then published and sold these photos, along with narrative text, in 20 volumes of work known as “The North American Indian”. It is one of the most significant collections of its kind, “probably the most important photographic document of its age and its topic,” said Jeffrey Garrett, associate university librarian for Special Libraries at Northwestern University. (Photo by Edward S. Curtis)

“Elat’ma, the Ryazan Oblast region of Russia. This small town is only 300 kilometers (186 miles) from modern Moscow but remains 60 years in the past, dominated by the spirit of socialism. The air of the communist ‘50s can be seen in the town’s architecture, celebrations and other occurrences. But neither its beauty nor its ties to a socialist past brought photographer Anastasia Rudenko to this village. Elat’ma is unique in that it functions as a town for mentally disabled people”. – Michelle Cohan via CNN. (Photo by Anastasia Rudenko)

In this photograph taken on January 19, 2012, Indonesian schoolchildren hold on to iron cables as they cross a nearly-collapsed suspension bridge at Sanghiang Tanjung village in Indonesia's Banten province to reach their school. (Photo by Kris Aria/AFP Photo)

A murmuration of starlings above the the small village of Rigg, near Gretna, in the Scottish Borders, on November 25, 2013. The weight of the resting birds on power lines caused some power localised power outages in the village. Still one of the commonest of garden birds, its decline elsewhere puts it on the Red List of endangered species. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)

People caress a horse during the traditional “El Tope” end-of-year parade in San Jose on December 26, 2023. Cowboy hats and boots, in the purest “wild west” style, flooded the streets of downtown San José to proudly display the horse culture in Costa Rica. (Photo by Ezequiel Becerra/AFP Photo)

France's Juliette Ducordeau (Front R) and fellow athletes react after crossing the finish line of the Women's Mass Start 10 km Free event at the FIS Tour de Ski stage on January 8, 2023 in Val di Fiemme. (Photo by Marco Bertorello/AFP Photo)

A family of baby brown bears appear to be dancing to Ring a Ring o' Roses as their mother relaxes behind a tree nearby. At just a few months old, two young males and one female gather in a circle, clutch each others' hands and begin to dance to the popular nursery rhyme. It's almost like a scene from a school playground as the bears joyfully play together, tapping their feet and moving around in a circle. (Photo by Valtteri Mulkahainen/Solent News & Photo Agency)