“Today, we take photography for granted. Anyone can take a photograph simply by pressing a button. Yet, it was not always so simple. The invention of photography was announced in 1839, but during its first fifty years taking a photograph was a complicated and expensive business. In 1888, all this was to change following the appearance of a camera that was to revolutionize photography. Popular photography can properly be said to have started 120 years ago with the introduction of the Kodak”. – The UK National Media Museum. Photo: Two men on the deck of a ship, about 1890. (Photo by Collection of National Media Museum/Kodak Museum)

A group of daredevil divers get perilously close to a school of deadly sharks – and one even lies on his back with his arm folded. The relaxed diver swims on his back and almost hugs the shark who is floating directly above him. The freedivers – Carlos Estrabeau, 28, and 29-year-old Ocean Ramsey – are friends with photographer Raul Boesel Jr. Photographer Raul Boesel Jr from Curitiba, Brazil, travelled to West End in the Bahamas to capture images of the giant sharks. (Photo by Raul Boesel/Solent News & Photo Agency)

Charlotte fights a monster with a “wand” in her bedroom in Laure Fauvel's “Terreurs”, 2014, in Paris, France. An imaginative photographer has brought to life monsters that haunt children's nightmares. Armed with sticks, wands and swords the eight and nine year-olds appear to be getting the upper-hand against the villains. Parisian photographer Laure Fauvel, 22, said: I wanted the children not be victims and to fight the monsters. (Photo by Laure Fauvel/Barcroft Media)

A serene turquoise glow glimmers from underneath these powerful icebergs. Stood in the middle of Antarctica, the giant icebergs appear to be from an unearthly world. These stunning photographs were captured by American photographer Michael Leggero. “My images show pure nature, as that is how I describe Antarctica, simply pure nature”, says the 43 year old, of Carthage, New York. “It is the only place on our planet that humans have not left a presence behind”. (Photo by Michael Leggero/Hotspotmedia/Visual Press Agency)

The stunning Milkyway in Midwestern U.S.A. captured by photographer Randy Halverson in 2013. The stunning skies in Midwestern U.S.A. captured by photographer Randy Halverson. The videographer captured rare footage of the Milky Way, the elusive Northern Lights and raging night storms in some of the most isolated regions of the U.S.A. The footage, which spans the skies of South Dakota, Wyoming and Utah, was taken between spring and autumn 2013. The 47-year-old spent 40 nights scattered across the eight-month period sat near his camera to capture the clear footage. Randy from Kennebec, South Dakota has been shooting timelapse for over 4 years. (Photo by Randy Halverson/Barcroft Media)

Neil Zeller's snaps were taken across Canada, where he photographs the northern lights dancing across a dark night sky. In one stunning shot, Zeller, 42, even manages to capture a flash of lightning beneath a storm cell while an aurora gives off a magnificent green glow. The photographer, from Calgary, Alberta, describes himself as a night person, and became interested in night photography about 10 years ago. (Photo by Neil Zeller/Caters News)

A photographer has shared his stunning gallery of African sunrises and sunsets. Paul Goldstein says he has spent years trying to photograph the perfect beginning and ending of the Masai Mara day. Thanks to his role as guide for Exodus Travels, there have been countless opportunities to document the beautiful natural spectacle. Photo: “African Fire”: Ostrich at sunset. (Photo by Paul Goldstein/Rex Features)

For his Behind a Little House Project Italian photographer Manuel Cosentino found an unsuspecting muse: a tiny nondescript house on an unexceptional hill. He returned to photograph the small building from the exact same location for nearly two years in order to capture the dramatic changes in weather and light that utterly changed the scenery just beyond the horizon