Aurorae category runner-up: Lone Tree under a Scandinavian Aurora by Tom Archer (UK). The photographer decided to explore the area around the hotel on a very crisp -35C evening in Finnish Lapland. When he found this tree, he decided to wait for the misty conditions to change and could not believe his luck when the sky cleared and the aurora came out in the perfect spot. Archer spent about an hour photographing it before his camera started to lock up because of the harsh conditions, but by then he was happy to call it a night. (Photo by Tom Archer/2020 Astronomy Photographer of the Year)

Two women enjoy drinks outside a pub in the soho area of central London on November 4, 2020, on the eve of a second novel coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown in an effort to combat soaring infections. English pubs call last orders at the bar for a month on Wednesday evening, as the country effectively shuts down from November 5, for the second time this year to try to cut coronavirus cases. Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted that the lockdown for England would end “automatically” in four weeks, as he tried to placate party critics over the spiralling economic fallout. (Photo by Stephen Lock/i-Images)

Jeremy Davis (L) demonstrates the operation of the safe room shelter door lock to homeowner Rob Hamlin on June 18, 2011 in Neosho, Missouri. Once thought of as a luxury item there has been a surge of interest from homeowners in purchasing shelters to ride out damaging storms ever since a F5 tornado tore through the town of Joplin, Missouri. Ranging in price from $3,000 to $5,000 homeowners can supplement the cost with a mortgage insurance program offered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for installing a safe room built to FEMA specifications. Lawmakers in Alabama have even considered requiring construction of storm shelters in mobile home parks after forty people died in April. (Photo by Julie Denesha/Getty Images)

Aliia Nasyrova laying her hair on the couch to show her hair's length on March 5, 2017 in Riga, Latvia. Real-life Rapunzel Aliia Nasyrova has hair so long that her husband admits he thinks of it as another member of the family. Aliia, 27, who lives in Riga, Latvia, took 20 years to grow out her hair, which measures 90 inches to the floor – and even has its own space in the marital bed. And while her massive mane attracts stares when out in public, her husband Ivan Balaban says he loves it and is proud of her for not cutting it. Weighing in at 4.5lbs (2kg), Aliia says her lengthy locks weigh as much as the family cat. (Photo by Eduard Kolik/Barcroft Media)

“Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. The History of Tom Thumb was published in 1621, and has the distinction of being the first fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tangling with giants, and becoming a favourite of King Arthur. The earliest allusions to Tom occur in various 16th century works such as Reginald Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft (1584) where Tom is cited as one of the supernatural folk employed by servant maids to frighten children”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Portrait of the dwarf, Tom Thumb standing on the hand of a Guardsman. Charles Sherwood Stratton (1838 – 1883) was nicknamed General Tom Thumb by P T Barnum, the circus owner. (Photo by London Stereoscopic Company/Getty Images). Circa 1875

“Einar Erici (1885–1965) was a physician by profession, working at a tuberculosis hospital in Stockholm, even running a private medical practice. He was by then the most renowned Swedish expert of church organs and organ builders, and his archival collection is today held by the Swedish National Heritage Board. This archive includes mostly writings, such as letters and manuscripts for published articles and essays, but also more than 2 000 black and white photos – original prints, glass plates and film negatives”. – Swedish National Heritage Board

Photo: Priest, Valamo Monastery, Karelia, Russia (then Finland), 1930s. Father Venerius with a birchbark basket. (Photo by Einar Erici)

Roza Khamitova was born into a family of artists in Kazakhstan. After finishing design school in Manhattan, New York, she was working in fashion industry for about 8 years. As a visual artist Roza had always drawn most of her inspiration from the natural world around her in the mountains of Kazakhstan. In 2011 she launched Shovava, her personal line of women’s clothing based on her hand drawn paintings and prints of the animals, plants and patterns found in nature. Roza was enchanted by the beauty of wings, its structure and symbolism. First, she sketches big wide-spread wings on paper with a light pencil, adds black ink to create a three-dimensional feel and fills with stunning watercolors.

A painting of Chinese President Xi Jinping holding an umbrella is seen on the toilet wall in a guesthouse in Hong Kong December 30, 2014. Set up in a small apartment in the Causeway Bay shopping district, the guesthouse that gives what it calls “Umbrella Revolution Occupation Experience” charges guest HK$100 (US$13) a night to stay in a tent surrounded by pro-democracy banners, a cardboard cutout of President Xi Jinping holding a yellow umbrella, and serve toilet paper printed with the face of embattled leader of Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)