Pigeons cool down at a public fountain on a hot summer day at University Plaza in downtown Bucharest, Romania, 10 June 2020. Temperatures in Bucharest reached 30 degrees Celsius. (Photo by Robert Ghement/EPA/EFE)

Los Angeles native Mike Stilkey has always been attracted to painting and drawing not only on vintage paper, record covers and book pages, but on the books themselves. Using a mix of ink, colored pencil, paint and lacquer, Stilkey depicts a melancholic and at times a whimsical cast of characters inhabiting ambiguous spaces and narratives of fantasy and fairy tales. A lingering sense of loss and longing hints at emotional depth and draws the viewer into their introspective thrall with a mixture of capricious poetry, wit, and mystery. (Photo by Mike Stilkey)

A duck salesman parades his stock to commuters at a busy station in Dhaka, Bangladesh on May 23, 2018. (Photo by Nazmul Hasan Khan/Caters News Agency)

Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders perform before the game against the New England Patriots in Arlington, Texas on October 1, 2023. (Photo by Kevin Jairaj/USA Today Sports)

A fan watches the pre-game before an NFL football game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday, November 26, 2023, in Indianapolis. (Photo by Darron Cummings/AP Photo)

American model and television personality Kendall Jenner attends the Longchamp 70th Anniversary Celebration at Opera Garnier on September 11, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by Dominique Maitre/WWD/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Portraiture of Manipuri Girls attire herself as Gopi and Krishna to celebrate and performing traditional Ras Leela dance festival at Mirgajungle Manipuri Rajbari in Sylhet, Banglades on November 7, 2022. (Photo by Md Rafayat Haque Khan/Eyepix Gr/Avalon)

This photo taken November 10, 2015 shows homeless street children sleeping in a park in Manila. The Philippines has swept 20,000 homeless from the streets, cancelled hundreds of flights and declared public holidays in Manila to ensure a safe and efficient summit of 21 world leaders next week, officials say. (Photo by Jay Directo/AFP Photo)