“Asaro from the Eastern Highlands”. The mudmen could not cover their faces with mud because the people of Papua New Guinea thought that the mud from the Asaro river was poisonous. So instead of covering their faces with this alleged poison, they made masks from pebbles that they heated and water from the waterfall, with unusual designs such as long or very short ears either going down to the chin or sticking up at the top, long joined eyebrows attached to the top of the ears, horns and sideways mouths. (Photo and caption by Jimmy Nelson)

Snorkellers approach an adult manatee at Three Sisters Spring, Crystal River, Florida. You might imagine that coming face to face with one of these enormous underwater mammals would cause some concern. However, the likelihood is that the rotund creature just wants you to scratch its belly while it floats around happily, as world-renowned underwater photographer Alex Mustard discovered. (Photo by Alexander Mustard/Barcroft Media)

The Leshan Giant Buddha, a 71-metre tall stone statue, is carved out of a cliff face in the southern part of Sichuan province in China. (Photo by Suchet Suwanmongkol/500px)

People watch participants, whose faces are painted as popular Mexican figure “Catrina”, during the annual Catrina Fest, part of Day of the Dead celebrations, in Mexico City, Mexico, November 2, 2016. (Photo by Edgard Garrido/Reuters)

A girl with face pantings (C) looks on during a demonstration to mark al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, after Friday prayers, in Kuala Lumpur on April 14, 2023. (Photo by Mohd Rasfan/AFP Photo)

A red deer stag in Bushy Park, southwest London, pulls a comical face for the camera in the second decade of November 2023. (Photo by Andrew Wood/Caters News Agency)

A woman wearing a face mask and holding a parasol stands along a street in the central business district in Beijing, Thursday, July 7, 2022. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

A child is pictured with the face covered in blood during a religious procession to mark Ashura in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon on August 19, 2021. (Photo by Aziz Taher/Reuters)