A contestant poses for a photograph backstage ahead of the Miss Gay Jozi pageant in Johannesburg, May 23, 2015. (Photo by Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters)

Bikini Contest in Daytona Beach, Florida’s Atlantic coast, circa 1980s. (Photo by Evan Hurd/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)

The Kazakhs are the descendants of Turkic, Mongolic and Indo-Iranian tribes and Huns that populated the territory between Siberia and the Black Sea. They are a semi-nomadic people and have roamed the mountains and valleys of western Mongolia with their herds since the 19th century. The ancient art of eagle hunting is one of many traditions and skills that the Kazakhs have, in recent decades, been able to hold on to. They rely on their clan and herds, believing in pre-Islamic cults of the sky, the ancestors, fire and the supernatural forces of good and evil spirits.

Participants adjust their make up backstage during a breast model contest in Hefei, Anhui province September 24, 2014. Over 100 models participated in this contest, which was held by a cosmetic company. The winner was awarded 680,000 yuan ($110,825) as cosmetic funds and 30,000 yuan ($4,890) in cash, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

The Mount Bromo volcano erupts in the Bryce Canyon, Utah. (Photo by Reynold Dewantara/2016 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest)

Bikini Contest in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA. (Photo by Evan Hurd/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)

Belarusian beauty designers attend an annual national contest in Minsk, Belarus on November 7, 2019. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

Wild Thang, a Pekingese competing in the 2023 World’s Ugliest Dog Contest sits in the waiting kennel before the start of the annual World's Ugliest Dog contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, California, on June 23, 2023. Scooter was the winner of the 2023 World’s Ugliest Dog Competition. (Photo by Philip Pacheco/AFP Photo)