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)

Sepak Takraw – ISTAF Super Series Korea 2014-15 – Gunsan City, South Korea April 26, 2015: Thailand's Fueangfa (L) in action during the final. (Photo by Jeremy Lee/Reuters)

Zurich soccer player Loris Benito tries to catch a marten during the Swiss Super League match between FC Thun and FC Zurich in Thun, Switzerland, March 10, 2013. (Photo by Marcel Bieri/Keystone)

Cardi B attends the Fanatics Super Bowl Party at College Football Hall of Fame on February 2, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Shareif Ziyadat/WireImage)

Agustina, 41, a trans woman poses before a Trans Super Heroes fashion show at a traditional market in Jakarta, Indonesia on December 17, 2023. (Photo by Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Reuters)

Jaime Munguia lands a left to Canelo Alvarez in a super middleweight title fight Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Photo by John Locher/AP Photo)

Employees wear "No-Face" masks during working hours at a service company in Handan, Hebei Province of China. As a service company, staff must smile to customers every day. On “No-Face Day”, staff wore masks to hide their facial expressions and allow them to relax. No-Face is a character in the 2001 animated movie “Spirited Away”, a silent masked creature who has no facial expressions.

These tiny insects are so well camouflaged it is nearly impossible to make out their cleverly disguised forms. Canadian photographer and adventurer Paul Bertner attempted to catch the bugs in their natural habitats as part of a hide-and-seek game to show biodiversity in nature. Here: Stick insects. (Photo by Paul Bertner/Caters News)