Aerial photography platform SkyPixel received 27,000 entries to its 2016 competition. Here are the winning shots plus some of our favourites. Here: Dam near perfect. Second prize in the same category was of the Huia Dam in Auckland, New Zealand. Hong Kong-based SkyPixel was launched in 2014. (Photo by Brendon Dixon/SkyPixel)

People make their way on an algae-covered beach in Qingdao, Shandong province, China, July 19, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Faruk, 17, a Rohingya refugee trader holds betel leaves which are on sale at a stall in Palong Khali refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, November 3, 2017. He left his village in Myanmar when the military opened fire towards the Rohingya. “I buy this betel leaf from Palong Khali market, in one bundle there are 160 pieces, I buy it for 80 taka and I sell it for 100 taka (1 Bangladeshi Taka = 0.012 US Dollar). Bangladeshi's and I sell for the same rate in the camp. Outside in the local market it is 80 taka per bundle. My problem is that I don't have money so I can't buy anything to eat, I can't buy fish to eat”, he said. (Photo by Hannah McKay/Reuters)

A girl gets her hands decorated with traditional henna patterns at a roadside stall ahead of Eid-al Fitr to mark the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Karachi, Pakistan, July 17, 2015. (Photo by Akhtar Soomro/Reuters)

The Buddha Dordenma statue overlooks the town of Thimphu, Bhutan, April 16, 2016. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

If you love someone very much, you care very little about their looks. The beauty of their soul is the thing that matters the most, changing your perception of them for the better. Monty the Cat is a vivid example of this fact. He was taken by his new owners from an animal shelter at the age of three, and became a proud member of their family. Due to a genetic anomaly Monty doesn’t have a nasal bridge, making his appearance rather unique. However, this peculiarity is what makes Monty special, and his new owners love him for it. Though he doesn’t realize that he’s any different from other cats, Monty knows that his owners love him very much.

“In honor of Friday’s World Press Freedom Day, the non-governmental organization Reporters sans frontières (Reporters Without Borders) launched a campaign depicting world-famous dictators giving everyone the finger, or the international equivalent thereof”. – Kay Steiger. (Photo by Vincent Bousserez/Reporters Without Borders)

"I am completely inspired by the natural world. Beauty is everywhere. It is the growth of the forest, the depth of the sea, and the curve of the bone. It is skin, scales, bark, and tide pool ripples. It is texture, and it is raw. I am a translator of life, and I am compelled to narrate it."