“Early morning in Mandawa, rural Rajasthan: it was the morning of Diwali and the streets were swept by smiling women in brightly coloured sarees as I took an early morning cup of chai. Celebrations started later, when darkness fell”. (Photo by Hamish Scott-Brown/Guardian Witness)

This month’s selection of travel imagery mixes quiet moments and superlative views. The overall 2018 prize is a West Greenland trip with Wild Photography Holidays. Here: “This was taken on a safari in Kruger national park, South Africa. The scene was like something straight out of a storybook: a wild baboon, impala and elephant crossing the road together, all lined up neatly in a row”. (Photo by Will Clarke/The Guardian)

Runner-up. “The heavens opened and the streets around Shibuya, Tokyo, were suddenly drenched in even more colour and movement. I was taking photos (my friend was holding the umbrella) when I noticed this woman at the crossing. I’m pleased with the futuristic feel of the image”. (Photo by Katherine Bridgestock/The Guardian)

Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. walks near the Lunar Module during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity July 20, 1969 on the Moon. (Photo by NASA/Newsmakers)

A Tibetan living-in-exile in India attends a peace march during the 62nd Tibetan National Uprising Day in the suburb of McLeod Ganj, the seat of the Central Tibetan Administration in exile, near Dharamsala, India, 10 March 2021. Tibetan Uprising Day is held annually on 10 March and commemorates the Tibetan uprising against the presence of the People's Republic of China in Tibet in 1959. (Photo by Sanjay Baid/EPA/EFE)

Director George Clooney reacts as he and his wife lawyer Amal Clooney arrive for a screening of the film “The Tender Bar” as part of the BFI London Film Festival, in London, Britain, October 10, 2021. (Photo by Henry Nicholls/Reuters)

Revellers enjoying the pubs and clubs in Leeds despite concerns over Omicron on December 10, 2021. Festive revellers have hit the pubs and clubs across the UK tonight as Plan B rules come into force and fears grow over the spread of Omicron. (Photo by Nb press ltd)

A former Gurkha (special forces soldier), Nirmal Purja, takes a selfie at the start of his attempt to scale the world’s 14 highest peaks in seven months to break a 31-year-old record. Nirmal Purja, known as Nims, aims to smash the current record – which stands at seven years, 11 months and 14 days – set by Polish climber Jerzy Kukuczka. On the way, he also plans to defeat at least seven speed world records on mountains over 8,000m high. (Photo by Nirmal Purja/PA Wire Press Association)