Several hundred swimmers took a sunrise dip in the North Sea at Portobello Beach, for the International Women’s Day Swimrise on March 08, 2022 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Women from all backgrounds, abilities and ages come together in aid of Edinburgh Women’s Aid, Edinburgh Rape Crisis and Held in Our Hearts. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

Skywhale and Skywhalepapa, created by artist Patricia Piccinini before flying over Melbourne on March 19, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. It is the first time Piccinini's work Skywhales: Every Heart Sings has flown over Melbourne, as part of MPavilion. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and these striking images of 2017 are no exception. The photo highlights include incredible snapshots of the natural world as well as some awesome animal and human encounters. The vibrant gallery also shows thrill-seekers pushing themselves to the limit with breathtaking stunts captured in perfect clarity. The pictures have been taken by a host of photographers from around the world. Here: The two lion cubs singing their hearts out at Antelope park in Zimbabwe. (Photo by David Jenkins/Caters News Agency)

In this January 3, 2018 photo several female Gelada baboons, also known as bleeding-heart baboons, cuddle with their youngs in order to keep warm at the Wilhelma zoo in Stuttgart, Germany. (Photo by Sebastian Gollnow/DPA via AP Photo)

A newborn baby giraffe shows its tongue at the Planckendael zoo in Mechelen, 25 kilometers North of Brussels, Tuesday, February 18, 2014. The calf was born on Valentines day, February 14, and has a heart shaped spot on the hip. (Photo by Yves Logghe/AP Photo)

An employee builds up the figure of the Queen of Hearts from the movie Alice in Wonderland (2010) in the immersive exhibition “Tim Burton's Labyrinth” in Berlin on July 8, 2024. From July 19, 2024, the international exhibition ”Tim Burton's Labyrinth” can be experienced at the Radsetzerei in Berlin. (Photo by Ronny Hartmann/AFP Photo)

Buns are stamped the Chinese characters “Ping An”, meaning peaceful and safe, inside a bakery, at Hong Kong's Cheung Chau island, China May 17, 2015, ahead of the upcoming Bun Festival on May 25. The festival celebrates the islanders' deliverance from famine many centuries ago and is meant to placate ghosts and restless spirits. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

Drastic inequality is by no means new in New York. Jacob A. Riis was called a muckraker after he chose to spotlight the city’s poverty at the turn of the 20th century by photographing it. Here: Sweatshop in Hester Street, 1889-1890. (Photo by Jacob A. Riis/Museum of the City of New York, Gift of Roger William Riis)