Now celebrating its 40th year, Nikon Small World is widely regarded as the leading forum to recognize proficiency and photographic excellence of photography taken under the microscope. To select the winners, competition judges analyzed entries from all over the world covering subjects ranging from chemical compounds to up-close-and-personal looks at biological specimens. The 2014 winners will be revealed on October 30th. In 2014, the competition received over 1,200 entries from more than 79 countries around the world. (Photo by Dr. Igor Robert Siwanowicz/Nikon Small World 2014)

A picture taken on October 17, 2014 in Vevey shows a giant fork designed by Switzerland's artist Jean-Pierre Zaugg to commemorate Nestle's Alimentarium Food Museum 10th anniversary. World's biggest food company, Swiss Nestle Group announced results sales down by 3.1% for the first nine months of 2014 to 66.2 billion Swiss francs (55.1 billion euros). (Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP Photo)

Cemetery overcrowding is an issue that resonates around the world, particularly in its most cramped cities and among religions that forbid or discourage cremation. The reality of relying on finite land resources to cope with the endless stream of the dying has brought about creative solutions... (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

“Life in War” (FotoEvidence Press) by Iranian photographer Majid Saeedi is probably the only book about Afghanistan that doesn’t show images of war. For ten years his camera photographed daily life in the context of war. His photographs reveal the humanity of a people living through decades of war. Here: Afghan men escape increasing summer temperatures by wading in the Qarga reservoir on July 9, 2010 in a suburb of Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

Ever wonder what a human head would look like if he or she was turned into a pastry? Well now you can, thanks to the works created by the photographer Brandon Voges. Some of the pictures are light and funny, while others are pretty gruesome and outright disgusting. For example, the comparison of an old lady with some chunky, orange-colored pastry coated with what looks like syrup, really makes you lose your appetite. It is a wonder how they decided to use such an unappealing picture to promote an annual food show of the National Restaurant Association. (Photo by Brandon Voges)

In the remote Argentine Pampas you can find an incredible forest formed in the shape of a guitar. More than 35 years ago, Pedro Ureta unexpectedly lost his wife to a brain aneurysm. Devastated by the loss of his love, he decided to create a shrine to her memory in their field that could only be seen above-head from an airplane. Ureta chose a guitar because it was his late wife’s most loved instrument.

Movement is the essence and meaning of our life. We feel so much more alive when we are in motion, while people who spend hours motionless tend to have trouble connecting with the outside world. Whether you dive from a high cliff, play your favorite sport, dance at a rave party, or simply walk down a path with autumn leaves rustling under your feet with the love of your life by your side, all those things make your life richer, more beautiful, and more fulfilling. This set of pictures beautifully captures the joy of never-ending motion that enriches our life. (Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters)

The hard-worked hands of Jacaba Coaquira, 80, holding the green beans she grew on her land. This year the production of her land was affected by lack of rain and early cold weather that froze the crops before they finished growing. Santiago de Okola, Bolivia. (Photo by Renée C. Byer/Living on a Dollar a Day)