“The Miss Exotic World Pageant (officially, the Miss Exotic World Pageant and Striptease Reunion) is an annual neo-burlesque pageant and convention, and is the annual showcase event (and fundraiser for) the Burlesque Hall of Fame (formerly the Exotic World burlesque museum). The pageant, sometimes referred to as the “Miss America of Burlesque”, attracts former burlesque queens from past decades, as well as current participants of the neo-burlesque scene. The pageant consists of burlesque performances spanning a weekend, culminating with the competition to crown a single performer as Miss Exotic World. Because of the significance of the Exotic World Burlesque Museum to the burlesque community, winning the pageant is considered a top honor for a burlesque performer”. – Wikipedia

Here: Stephanie Blake removes a stocking at the Miss Exotic World Pageant at the Exotic World Burlesque Museum on June 7, 2003 in Helendale outside of Barstow, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

Nature – first prize, stories. Pandemic Pigeons – A Love Story. The photographer’s daughter, Merel, cowers after Dollie flies past and perches on the balcony before entering the house in Vlaardingen in the Netherlands on 6 April 2020. “She’s still frightened when Dollie suddenly lands on the balcony railing. I hide my smile behind the camera, as I try to comfort her by saying they won’t hurt you. “I thought he was going to attack me”, she replies. As the nesting pigeons keep coming back to our place, slowly my girls have started to appreciate them – perhaps not as much as I do, but it’s a start”. (Photo by Jasper Doest/World Press Photo 2021)

Spectators react as a competitor races past in the annual donkey festival in Salcedo, Ecuador, Saturday, September 10, 2022. (Photo by Dolores Ochoa/AP Photo)

Protesters march during a demonstration, Tuesday, October 18, 2022 in Marseille, southern France. France is in the grip of transport strikes and protests for salary raise on Tuesday that threaten to dovetail with days of wage strikes that have already hobbled fuel refineries and depots, sparking chronic gasoline shortages around the country. (Photo by Daniel Cole/AP Photo)

A woman looks out from her stall selling traditional garments and textiles at a market in Ashgabat February 8, 2012. (Photo by Aman Mehinli/Reuters)

A group of young men use a selfie stick to take a picture of themselves in shallow waters known as the first cataract of the River Nile outside Khartoum, Sudan, May 22, 2015. In Sudan, which faces insurgences in the western region of Darfur and along its border with breakaway South Sudan, as well as double-digit inflation and high unemployment, life goes on for young people in the capital Khartoum. (Photo by Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters)

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish bride takes part in the “mitzva tantz”, the custom in which relatives dance in front of the bride after her wedding ceremony, in Netanya, Israel, early March 16, 2016. (Photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters)

“Misty Morning”. Every morning, people expect sunny weather. Photo location: Bali, Indonesia. (Photo and caption by Henry Adam/National Geographic Photo Contest)