Shortlisted: Pooyan Shadpoor, Houcheraghi. While walking along the shore of Larak, Iran – an island in the Persian Gulf – Shadpoor came across this luminous scene. The “magical lights of (the) plankton ... enchanted me so that I snapped the shot”, he writes. (Photo by Pooyan Shadpoor/2016 EPOTY)

Three young women in their 20s brawling on a busy street on the route from the track to the town centre during day four of the William Hill St Leger Festival at Doncaster Racecourse, England on September 14, 2019. (Photo by Nb press ltd)

A dressed up Oakland Raiders fan poses for photos as she arrives at Azteca stadium in Mexico City, Monday, November 21, 2016. The Oakland Raiders face the Houston Texans at a sold out Azteca stadium. (Photo by Dario Lopez-Mills/AP Photo)

Gray whale feeding at the surface and showing it's baleen. (Photo by Christopher Swann/Biosphoto)

Extraordinary tales of everyday heroism have been illustrated beautifully by renowned US photographer Steve McCurry in the new 2015 Lavazza Calendar. The calendar which has been created in collaboration with the Slow Food movement, features twelve breathtaking pictures, capturing the spirit, strength and humanity of the Earth Defenders – women and men who protect their land and projects in Africa with passion and bravery. The proceeds from sales of the calendar and all donations will be contributed entirely to create 10,000 food gardens in African schools and villages by the end of 2016. (Photo by Steve McCurry/2015 Lavazza Calendar)

Women take a selfie with a giant dragon lantern decorated near the frozen Houhai Lake in Beijing, Thursday, February 8, 2024. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)

The American singer Jessie Murph shows off her footwear at Variety magazine event in Los Angeles, California on August 8, 2024. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Photo)

Police detain a woman as people gather at a memorial site in Clapham Common Bandstand, following the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard, in London, Britain on March 13, 2021. (Photo by Hannah McKay/Reuters)