Winner. “This was taken in the South Ari Atolls, Maldives, as the south-west monsoon season was setting in. It features my partner – and dive buddy – Emma after surfacing at the end of the last dive of the day to find 1.5 metre swells and dark monsoon clouds. MICK RYAN, JUDGE: This beautiful portrait of a diver in an ocean swell below a menacing sky stands out this month for its emotional and elemental beauty. It is a reminder that while we may play among nature we are always dwarfed by its power and must be constantly on our guard”. (Photo by Simon Dunn/The Guardian)

A Taliban fighter walks past a beauty salon with images of women defaced using spray paint in Shar-e-Naw in Kabul on August 18, 2021. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar/AFP Photo)

Honorable Mention: “The Storm”. During I was taking photo with my nephew, the storm came and I caught this beautiful moment. Photo location: Kocaeli, Turkey. (Photo and caption by Aytül Akbaş/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Taking the lead in this year’s Calendar is beautiful Oscar winning actress, Penelope Cruz, whilst noted fashion photographer, Kristian Schuller, shot the intense imagery”. (Photo by Kristian Schuller)

P.S. Very bad photoset. Penelope Cruz – the beautiful woman and the characteristic actress. Also that as a result? ANYTHING.

A participant gets ready backstage before the start of the “Miss Gay Nicaragua 2016” beauty pageant in Managua, Nicaragua June 25, 2016. Picture taken June 25, 2016. (Photo by Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters)

A woman has her hair done as people visit the International Beauty Show New York at Javits Center in New York, U.S., March 13, 2017. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

Some Iraqi candidates for Miss Iraq beauty contest pose in front of the Ishtar Gate at the ancient archaeological site of Babylon, outside the modern city of Hilla, south of the capital Baghdad on December 17, 2015. The beauty contest, which is the first one in more than 40 years, aims to boost tourism in the city and will take place on December 19, 2015. (Photo by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP Photo)

First place, The Beauty of Plants. “There are many stages of lotus growth on display at the Aquatic Gardens, but to come across twotwisted dancing stems of nelumbo nucifera was unexpected and quite magical”. (Photo by Kathleen Furey/The Guardian)