Pangolins in Crisis: Brent Stirton, South Africa; 1st place, Natural world and wildlife. “Pangolins are the world’s most illegally trafficked mammals, with an estimated one million trafficked to Asia in the last 10 years. Their scales are used in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine, and their meat is sold as a high-priced delicacy. As a result, pangolins are listed as critically endangered and anyone who trades or consumes them is breaking the law. This body of work exposes the trade, while exploring aspects of illegality and celebrating the people who are trying to save these animals”. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Sony World Photography Awards 2020)

People splash mud water in a paddy field on National Paddy Day in Tokha village, on the outskirt of capital Kathmandu, Nepal, 29 June 2021. Nepal is celebrating National Paddy Day with various events on 29 June. On this day, known as Asar Pandra, farmers begin the annual rice planting season and mark the day with various festivities such as preparing rice meals with muddy water, mud being a symbol for a prosperous season. Sixty percent of Nepal's agriculture industry relies on monsoon rain while 40 percent is carried out through irrigation. Agriculture is a major contributor to the country's GDP. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA/EFE)

A woman with a snake on her body, taken in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 2017. A holistic therapist uses snakes to massage her clients – claiming it cures depression and even helps victims of abuse. Instead of traditional massaging techniques, Sarah Zaad uses up to six pythons and boa constrictors on brave customers who want to relax or be treated for mental disorders. The flamboyant therapist from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil believes her snakes have a magic touch, which can benefit people by massaging their bodies. (Photo by Kadeh Ferreira/Barcroft Images)

People take part in a water gun battle as part of the annual Songkran festival, also known as water festival, the traditional Thai New Year celebrations, at the tourist spot of Khao San Road in Bangkok, Thailand, 13 April 2023. Thailand celebrates its first water-splashing Songkran festival following a three-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Songkran is celebrated with splashing water and putting powder on each other's faces as a symbolic sign of cleansing and washing away the sins from the old year. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)

An exhausted and frustated migrant holds his head after he missed to get a place on a train heading to the Serbian border at the train station in Gevgelija, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, August 13, 2015. From the beginning of the year to mid-June 2015, nearly 160,000 migrants landed in the southern European countries, mainly Greece and Italy, on their way to wealthier countries in Western and Northern Europe, according to estimates by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). (Photo by Georgi Licovski/EPA)

People look at a 1939 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Touring Spider displayed at Sotheby's in New York City, New York, U.S. July 21, 2016. The car, unveiled in a pre-publicity showing in New York on Thursday, is expected to sell for more than US$15 million – and could set a record for the most money ever paid for a pre-war auto at auction. (Photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

A love story with two log choppers. “In 1993, I was working on a project about life in the Olomouc region of Czechoslovakia. One day, I came to the village of Dlouhá Loučka-Křivá and went into a courtyard where I saw two old people, a husband and wife, sawing firewood for winter. They were working quietly, concentrating. I watched them fetch a beam from a wrecked barn, but they didn’t discuss how they planned to carry it to the saw. The woman faced one way, the man the other. When they realised, the woman eventually turned and followed her husband. The picture I took is the picture of many relationships – when each partner wants something different, but they have to come to an agreement, pull together eventually”. (Photo by Jindrich Streit)

A child blowing confetti from her hands during a Carnival parade in Cyprus' coastal city of Limassol, Sunday, March 13, 2016. Limassol's long-established parade is Cyprus' biggest and most famous, drawing revelers from across the east Mediterranean island. This year's parade drew huge crowds as people sought lighthearted reprieve from the bailed-out country's recession. The parade marks the start of the 40-day fasting period of Lent in the run-up to the Orthodox Christian Easter. (Photo by Petros Karadjias/AP Photo)