Hospitality staff members laugh as they stand on Tiananmen Square before the closing ceremony of China's 19th Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Tuesday, October 24, 2017. The ruling Communist Party on Tuesday formally lifted Xi Jinping's status to China's most powerful ruler in decades, setting the stage for the authoritarian leader to tighten his grip over the country while pursuing an increasingly muscular foreign policy and military expansion. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

In a photo taken on July 29, 2018 instructor Kim Ju Yang (20) holds a North Korean- made assault rifle as she poses for a portrait at the Meari shooting range in Pyongyang. The Meari shooting range offers customers the opportunity to shoot a number of North Korean and foreign- made firearms, most of which have been modifed to fire .22 calibre ammunition costing one US dollar per round. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)

A dog is kept at a pen at the newly opened Central Zoo in Pyongyang, North Korea, Tuesday, August 23, 2016. One of the most popular attractions at the zoo might come as a surprise to foreign visitors. Just across the way from the hippopotamus pen and the reptile house, dozens of varieties of dogs, including schnauzers, German shepherds, Shih Tzus and Saint Bernards – are on display in the “dog pavilion”. (Photo by Dita Alangkara/AP Photo)

The Arcaid awards highlight the best architectural photographs of the year – pictures of everything from giant arenas to tiny huts. The shortlisted photographs will be exhibited at the World Architecture Festival in Berlin, from 16 to 18 November, with an overall winner announced during the event’s gala dinner. Here: The stage for Haduwa Arts & Culture Institute, Ghana. Architect: (applied) Foreign Affairs. Nominated in the Sense of Place category. The open-air auditorium of this arts institute in Apam, Ghana, is built from ultra-strong curved bamboo. (Photo by Julien Lanoo)

A girl salutes to visitors before a show at the Mangyongdae Children's Palace in central Pyongyang, North Korea May 5, 2016. Pyongyang held a gala of song and dance performances by local school children on May 5 for visiting delegations of foreign journalists and tourists at the Mangyongdae Children's Palace. The event included orchestral, choir, and acrobatic performances, many of them with political undertones. The Seventh Worker's Party Congress commences on May 6, 2016. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

Japanese women wearing “yukata” casual summer kimono take selfies at Asakusa district in Tokyo, Japan, 13 September 2020. Asakusa is one of Tokyo's most-visited areas and is usually crowded with tourists. In Japan, the numbers of visitors from abroad fell by 99.9 percent from a year earlier in July due to the ban for entries of foreign visitors amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA/EFE)

An aerial view of a man standing on Lake Tuz, Turkiye's second largest lake, during sunset in Ankara, Turkiye on April 22, 2024. The lake, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List with its unique natural structure, welcomes many local and foreign tourists every year as it provides 70 per cent of the country's salt needs. (Photo by Hakan Nural/Anadolu via Getty Images)

What do superheroes do when they’re not busy fighting bad guys and saving the world from destruction? Perhaps they’re drawing strength alone in the peace and quiet of the great outdoors. That’s the premise of French photographer Benoit Lapray‘s photo-manipulation series “The Quest for the Absolute.”