A wide-angle view shows the ascent of the shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986. In the seconds after ignition, the rocket engines' hot blast began the process of destruction. (Photo by NASA)
A villager stretches as the Mayon volcano spews ashes and lava in Legaspi city, Albay province, Philippines, 12 June 2023. The restive Mayon volcano has begun spewing lava and small eruptions, putting the lives of thousands of people at risk from possible violent explosion. (Photo by Francis R. Malasig/EPA/EFE)
Visitors enjoy a camel ride at Sea View beach in Karachi on June 16, 2023, after Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall. More than 180,000 people in the Indian state of Gujarat and Pakistan's neighbouring Sindh province fled the path of Biparjoy – which means “disaster” in Bengali – before it made landfall on June 15 evening. (Photo by Asif Hassan/AFP Photo)
A man is reflected in the water as he sleeps on the street in Kathmandu, Nepal, 27 June 2023. Despite the Meteorological Forecasting Division of Nepal already announcing the onset of the monsoon season in the country on June 14, 2023, the monsoon rainfall has not been significantly active yet. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA)
Girls in ballet dresses pose near St. Basil's Cathedral and the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia on July 19, 2023. (Photo by Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters)
Stunning images show the rolling splendor of the "iceberg capital of the world" under auroras. The photographer even includes himself in many of the shots – a signature of his that offers a fresh take on the conventional selfie, as well as providing a sense of scale to his works. Ziskas shot the photographs over a 10-day visit to western Greenland in September. Here: the photographer even includes himself in many of the shots – a signature of his that offers a fresh take on the conventional selfie, as well as providing a sense of scale to his works. (Photo by Paul Zizkas/Caters News)
In his series of untitled photographs Nobody Claps Anymore, the Mexican-American photographer Alec Dawson portrays ordinary people in their homes in a downbeat, ultra-stylised manner. Staring into space as they watch TV or water the garden, the real-life subjects of photographer hint at vast reserves of boredom and regret. (Photo by Alec Dawson)
Shortlisted: “Two big eyes” by Miao Yong (Zejiang province, China). Damselflies look over the leaves. “I was photographing insects in a park near my home when suddenly I found two damselflies in the grass. They kept flying and it was very difficult to focus until suddenly they parked behind a leaf”. (Photo by Miao Yong/2017 Royal Society of Biology Photographer of the Year)