Mount Sinabung looks calm as seen from Karo, North Sumatra at dawn on August 8, 2021. (Photo by Tibta Nangin/AFP Photo)

A worker collects rubber sap at a farm in Songon village, north of Abidjan, February 3, 2016. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)

Lightning strikes above Perch Rock Lighthouse in Merseyside, North West England on August 10, 2020. (Photo by Bav Media/The Sun)

A guard follows participants down a hallway in “Squid Game: The Trials”, an in-person interactive competition experience based on the Netflix show “Squid Games”, on December 20, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. At “Squid Game: The Trials” in Los Angeles, fans of all ages can relive the most emotional moments of Netflix's South Korean hit show – but there is a lot less blood and no one wins any prize money. (Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP Photo)

Myoung Ho Lee‘s 2007 Tree series is about as peaceful and serene as the scenery itself. In the series, the young South Korean photographer touches upon the subjects of physical isolation and visual confirmation. By placing the tree in front of a stark white background, Lee creates a false separation that plays a delightful game with the mind’s eye.

A South Korean woman looks out at the flood water after a torrential rain storm hit the capital city on July 27, 2011 in Seoul, South Korea. South Korea issued a national crisis warning on as torrential rain caused flooding in parts of the country, killing over 35 with at least ten missing. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Bosnian worker Sefik Salihovic drives a steam engine in the Bosnian town of Banovici, 140 kms (86.9 miles) north of Sarajevo, on Monday, November 24, 2014. Every day, steam engines over 60 years old, defy their age and still pull wagons of coal from Banovici's coal mine to clients in nearby towns. But in the summer some of them turn into the only tourist attraction this impoverished north Bosnian town has to offer. (Photo by Amel Emric/AP Photo)

Tony North; First place, Breathing Spaces; Overall Winner; Blue Tajinaste, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. “Echium thyrsiflorum is endemic to the mountains of La Palma island – from high up, there was a magnificent view of both the caldera below, and the stars above. The Unesco La Palma biosphere reserve encompasses the entire island, with the Caldera de Taburiente containing mountains with a highest peak of 2,426 metres – the Roque de los Muchachos”. (Photo by Tony North/IGPOTY)