A Hindu devotee girl stands after getting her tongue pierced with a metal rod during the Thaipusam festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Tuesday, February 3, 2015. Thaipusam, which is celebrated in honor of Hindu god Lord Murugan, is an annual procession by Hindu devotees seeking blessings, fulfilling vows and offering thanks. (Photo by Joshua Paul/AP Photo)

A U.S. Navy F18 fighter jet takes off from aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson during a FONOPS (Freedom of Navigation Operation Patrol) in South China Sea, March 3, 2017. The U.S. military took journalists Friday to the carrier on routine patrol off the disputed South China Sea, sending a signal to China and American allies of its resolve to ensure freedom of navigation and overflight in one of the world's security hotspots. (Photo by Erik De Castro/Reuters)

A person stands in front of a 25.3-meter-long giant rabbit designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman at an old aircraft hangar as part of the Taoyuan Land Art Festival in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan, September 3, 2014. The rabbit is named “Moon rabbit” for the coming Mid-Autumn Festival or the Moon Festival and will be displayed from September 4 to 14 at the Taoyuan military base. (Photo by Pichi Chuang/Reuters)

Passengers wait for a train to depart from the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province, Friday January 13, 2017. Officials expect that Chinese travelers will make almost 3 billion trips during the holiday travel rush that starts runs through Feb. 21. These trips include intercity flights, trains and local bus rides to villages for China's 1.4 billion people. (Photo by Chinatopix via AP Photo)

Edinburgh mask maker Lorraine Pritchard on Sunday, January 28, 2024 alongside some of her Venetian masks which will be worn and displayed at the Venice Carnival, which starts on Saturday February 3. Lorraine studied model making at Glasgow College of Building and Printing and Venetian mask making in Florence, Italy. She travels to Venice each year to be a “mask” herself, wearing different masks she has designed as a live exhibit of her work. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images)

A ballet student from the Kibera based Project Elimu poses ahead of a public show in Kibera on August 14, 2024. Project Elimu, a community driven non profit organization, provides afterschool art, sport education programs for young people age 3 to 22. During school holidays the center holds street perfomances to encourage more students to join the dance center. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, one of the largest in Africa. (Photo by Gordwin Odhiambo/AFP Photo)

A member of Sisters of the Valley, a non-religious international group founded in 2014 which has pledged to spread the gospel of the healing powers of cannabis, who uses the moniker “Sister Bernardet” online and asked not to give her name for fear of reprisal, smokes a joint at the Sisters of the Valley's farm on the outskirts of a village in central Mexico on September 3, 2023. (Photo by Raquel Cunha/Reuters)

Shortlisted images in the running to be crowned Photobox Instagram photograph of the year range from furry friends to the Holi festival to the meaning of love. Judges, including the Guardian’s former picture editor Eamonn McCabe, have whittled down 180,000 submissions to unearth a shortlist that celebrates the best of social media. Winners will be announced October 3, 2018. Here: Najac, France. Travel shortlist. (Photo by Aaron Jenkin/@aaronjenkin)