Sports have the ability to transform groups of strangers into a united community. In the celebratory spirit surrounding the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Sony and the World Photography Organisation present UNITED – a contest honouring the passion of football fans around the world. Seven inspirational photographers have been selected by Sony and WPO to capture the atmosphere and celebration of the World Cup across the globe. Photo: France – French fans cheering for their team. (Photo by Anthony Lepinay)

The Atlantic Puffin is definitely a curious-looking bird. The special coloring that this bird develops for the breeding season in the spring is very reminiscent of tropical birds. The bright colors of the beak and the markings around the eyes serve no particular advantage and have evolved as a result of sexual selection. However, Puffins don’t look that pretty all year round. They shed all these festive colors in partial moult after the breeding season is over. They lose the ornaments around their eyes, their face becomes darker, and their beak becomes very different. The natural habitat of these birds is the cold waters of the North Atlantic Ocean.

John Crawford was always fascinated of a birds eye view, looking straight down in a vertical perspective. In his series ‘Aerial Nudes’ he is photographing single naked bodies from a high elevation. Perfectly timed photographs show a distant nude body laying down in a series of interesting locations. On each selected shoot day Crawford would deliver his model Carina to the location in the helicopter, positioning her in the carefully arranged set-up, then flying to 600 feet and capturing the image, which would take no more than ten minutes.

Where Children Sleep – stories of diverse children around the world, told through portraits and pictures of their bedrooms by James Mollison. This is a selection from the 56 diptychs in the book (Chris Boot November 2010). The book is written and presented for an audience of 9-13 year olds ‘ intended to interest and engage children in the details of the lives of other children around the world, and the social issues affecting them, while also being a serious photographic essay for an adult audience.

Kit Cox wears a mustache umbrella in the Hendrick's Unusual Umbrella Emporium at the launch of London Cocktail Week on October 12, 2011 in London, England. The Unusual Umbrella Emporium is a pop-up bar in Seven Dials which will open for the duration of London Cocktail Week until October 15, 2011. The venue will showcase obscure umbrellas alongside a selection of cocktails and cocktail umbrellas designed by the top bartenders in the UK. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Mike De Butts adds the finishing touches to a giant Baobab Tree sculpture entitled “Under the Baobab”, outside the Southbank Centre on May 24, 2012 in London, England. The Pirate Technics' installation is made from a selection of brightly coloured fabrics from around the world, and is part of the Southbank Centre's “Festival of the World” exhibition, which includes a series of large scale pieces of art that will be in place around the Southbank centre over the Summer. (Photo by Dan Kitwood)

A selection of work by four photojournalists who have won grants of $10,000 and editorial support from the agency. Here: “Chasing Winter” by Katie Orlinksy. In late summer and early autumn polar bears flock to the native village of Kaktovik in the Alaskan Arctic to eat at “the boneyard” – the remains of whales annually hunted by the community. (Photo by Katie Orlinsky/Getty Images)

A herder stops for reindeers to have a rest while riding along the tundra area in Nenets Autonomous District, Russia, November 27, 2016. In Russia's remote Arctic regions reindeer herding has been a way of life for centuries. Each winter herders in Russia's sparsely populated Nenets Autonomous District corral their reindeers into open-air pens before selecting weak animals to be culled... (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)