A woman sits on a terrace at Tiki hostel in Cantagalo favela, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 16, 2016. Hostels in a few of Rio's more than 1,000 slums serve not only as a cheap housing alternative for the more adventurous among the estimated 500,000 foreign tourists expected to arrive for the Olympics in August. The establishments also open up the rich culture of the city's shantytowns for travellers, giving them a glimpse into once “no-go” areas where about one-fifth of Rio's population lives. (Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters)

There is something frightening and at the same time appealing in the living sculptures of 27-year-old British artist Emma Fay. Body art in conjunction with the flexibility of acrobats and fantasy of the artist using water-based paints, a brush and sponge, is transformed into a beautiful work of art. It is not immediately possible to make out the human body in the picture. First you look at the landscape and suddenly begin to distinguish someone’s arm, or neck. Or you look into the eyes of an amazing bull, and it turns out that it is perfectly folded back. Lovely people, temples are and wonderful people-insects are.

Situated 10km outside Nairobi city centre, this private giraffe sanctuary is centred around a colonial manor house named Giraffe Manor. Living within the grounds is a herd of rare Rothschild giraffe. The giraffes visit twice a day searching for food, before returning to the forest. Although still wild animals, they have become accustomed to receiving treats from residents and guests. (Photo by Klaus Thymann)

A boy poses for a photo as he plays with a homemade toy gun in Qayara, south of Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, November 22, 2016. For months, residents of the Iraqi town of Qayara have lived in the darkness from a cloud of toxic fumes released by oil fields lit by retreating Islamic State fighters. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)

The People of Mah Meri tribe at home at Pulau Carey village on December 03, 2016 in Selangor, Malaysia. The Mah Meri people are one 18 tribes of Orang Asal (indigenous people) living in west Malaysia. The Mah Meri are know for thei wood carvings and also for the richness of their songs and dances. (Photo by Yuli Seperi/Sijori Images/Barcroft India)

Here are the bravest of the brave in 2016. Weve gathered some of the finest images showing daredevils taking their lives into their own hands and going to the very brink this year. Whether they are perched hundreds of feet up on a high wire, courageously clinging to a rockface or taking on a volcano, these adventurers take the breath away. Here: Morgane Choquet and Samuel Cobb relax in a vertical campsite on the slopes of El Capitan, Yosemite National Park. (Photo by Alexandre Eggermont/Caters News)

Japanese artist Mami Kiyoshi has spent 15 years creating vivid portraits of people surrounded by their belongings – from wine bottles and violins to the odd stray pet. Mami Kiyoshi’s ongoing series “New Reading Portraits” is, in part, a nod to the mise-en-scène found in traditional woodcut printing. Here: Sakura and Kazuhiro, Tokyo, 2015. (Photo by Mami Kiyoshi/Galerie Annie Gabrielli/The Guardian)

The War in Abkhazia from 1992 to 1993 was fought between Georgian government forces for the most part, and Abkhaz separatist forces, Russian armed forces and North Caucasian militants. Ethnic Georgians who lived in Abkhazia fought largely on the side of Georgian government forces. Ethnic Armenians and Russians within Abkhazia's population largely supported the Abkhazians, and many fought on their side. The separatists received support from thousands of North Caucasus and Cossack militants and from the Russian Federation forces stationed in and near Abkhazia. Here: Abkhazia. Sukhumi, 1993. A house-to-house combat. (Photo by Andrei Solovyov/ITAR-TASS)