Cats dressed as characters from the film Frozen wait to be judged during the costume contest at the New England Meow Outfit's 10th Annual Allbreed and Household Pet Cat Show in Natick, Massachusetts, on August 27, 2023. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso/AFP Photo)

Two men push a classic Messerschmidt KR200 “Kabinenroller” at the 7th Cairo Classic Meet in Cairo, Egypt, 23 March 2019. The exhibition for classic cars is held at the Smart Village in Cairo. The exhibition is held to exchange experiences in how to preserve the old cars, and also for promoting tourism. (Photo by Mohamed Hossam/EPA/EFE)

View of the Villarrica volcano taken from Pucon, some 800 kilometres south of Santiago, showing signs of activity on December 06, 2017. (Photo by Christian Miranda/AFP Photo)

Racegoers try to shelter from the rain during day one of the Cazoo Derby Festival at Epsom Racecourse in Surrey, United Kingdom on Friday, June 4, 2021. (Photo by John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)

Ava Cheptoo Cheruiyot, 11, a member of the Dance Centre Kenya (DCK), performs on stage during The Nutcracker at the Kenya National Theatre in Nairobi on December 7, 2024. The Nutcracker is a beloved Christmas ballet, first performed in 1892, with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Known for its enchanting score and festive themes, it has become a holiday tradition worldwide. (Photo by Luis Tato/AFP Photo)

Two revelers dressed as toy soldiers gesture toward a police officer in a patrol car during the traditional carnival parade in Wuerzburg, Germany, 15 February 2015. Under the motto “Carnival Parade is cool” about 160 groups with over 3,000 members took part in one of the biggest carnival parades in southern Germany. (Photo by Daniel Karmann/EPA)

Photographer Howard Schatz had an idea: place actors in a series of roles and dramatic situations to reveal the essence of their characters. Such was the premise behind his book, In Character: Actors Acting, which captures some of Hollywood’s most emotive stars in the act of, well, making faces. Luckily for us, he continued the tradition for Vanity Fair. Here are some of the best.

“Life in War” (FotoEvidence Press) by Iranian photographer Majid Saeedi is probably the only book about Afghanistan that doesn’t show images of war. For ten years his camera photographed daily life in the context of war. His photographs reveal the humanity of a people living through decades of war. Here: Afghan men escape increasing summer temperatures by wading in the Qarga reservoir on July 9, 2010 in a suburb of Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)