The contest began in 2007, and since then photographers from more than 70 countries have entered. Photo: Michael O'Neal of San Francisco won first place in the animals category in the 2014 iPhone Photography Awards. (Photo by Michael O'Neal)

Marine biologist Simon Pierce, who studies whale sharks, happened to be in the right place at the right time to capture amazing photo off Cancun, Mexico. (Photo by Simon Pierce/Mercury Press/Caters News)

Revellers take part in an annual block party known as “Cordao de Prata Preta”, one of the many carnival parties to take place in the neighbourhoods of Rio de Janeiro, February 6, 2016. (Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters)

Dancer Elizabeth Suarez, 29, gets ready to perform at the backstage of a cinema where the “Cuerda Viva” (Live Strings) alternative music festival is taking place, in Havana, February 26, 2016. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

A woman poses for pictures with skulls made of cardboard placed on an altar next to the San Francisco church in Mexico City during the celebration of All Souls Day on November 2, 2015. (Photo by Yuri Cortez/AFP Photo)

Third place: the rear leg, claw and respiratory trachea of a louse (Haematopinus suis). (Photo by Frank Reiser/Nassau Community College/Nikon Small World Photomicrography 2021)

Afghan tea seller Farooq Shah, center, fills kettles with tea for customers at a market place in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, December 4, 2019. (Photo by Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)

Enthusiasts participate in the historical re-enactment of the Sevastopol Fortress assault, which took place during the Crimean War of 1853-1856, at a military historical festival in Sevastopol, Crimea, September 5, 2020. (Photo by Alexey Pavlishak/Reuters)