Indonesian tourists take photos at the Marina Bay in Singapore May 14, 2015. When Singapore celebrated its 50th birthday as an independent country in August,the city state bore little resemblance to the tiny island nation that was expelled from Malaysia in 1965. Its physical stature has swollen by 20 percent thanks to one of the world's most aggressive land reclamation drives. (Photo by Edgar Su/Reuters)

Shortlisted: Pooyan Shadpoor, Houcheraghi. While walking along the shore of Larak, Iran – an island in the Persian Gulf – Shadpoor came across this luminous scene. The “magical lights of (the) plankton ... enchanted me so that I snapped the shot”, he writes. (Photo by Pooyan Shadpoor/2016 EPOTY)

A man carries the body of his son for burial after he was killed when a rooftop of his house collapsed due to heavy rain in the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan April 27, 2015. A severe storm in northwest Pakistan, dubbed a “mini-cyclone”, has killed 44 people and injured more than 200, officials said, raising their previous death toll. (Photo by Fayaz Aziz/Reuters)

American stand-up comedian and actress Whitney Cummings fools around with photographers after she, Griffin Johnson, and Josh Richards have dinner together at Craig's in West Hollywood, CA. on April 6, 2021. (Photo by Backgrid USA)

English singer and songwriter Dua Lipa bends over for a sultry snap end of April 2022. (Photo by dualipa/Instagram)

A cosplayer poses during New York Comic Con 2023 – Day 4 at Javits Center on October 15, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for ReedPop)

With its huge eyes, comical name and diminutive size, Mark R. Smith’s image of a baby Hawaiian bobtail squid can’t help but raise a smile. A curiously endearing creature, the cephalopod is just 1.5cm across, its mantle cavity bearing more than a passing resemblance to a rather natty shower cap. But it is also a beautiful example of symbiosis – nature’s version of “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” – for on the underside of the squid is a light organ which houses bioluminescent bacteria. The squid offers the bacteria protection and food, while the bacteria emit a glow – a handy trait that the squid uses to offset its silhouette, helping it to evade predators in the depths below. Mark R. Smith’s entry combines several images of a Hawaiian bobtail squid with different focus lengths to create a final picture with greater depth of field than normal. (Photo by Mark R. Smith/Wellcome Images/Macroscopic Solutions)

A general view of atmosphere at the annual VOLT Festival in Sopron, 208 kms west of Budapest, Hungary on August 16, 2016. (Photo by Rockstar Photographers)