Fabrice Monteiro travelled to the most polluted places in Africa and created terrifying characters who roamed their midst dressed in eerie debris. They are spirits, he says, on a mission to make humans change their ways. Informed by Africa’s environmental problems, Fabrice Monteiro’s photographs aim to highlight urgent ecological issues all over the world. His series “The Prophecy” is on show at Photo Basel 2017 until 18 June. (Photo by Fabrice Monteiro/Photo Basel 2017/Mariane Ibrahim Gallery/The Guardian)

Men ride a motorcycle carrying a fan in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, April 6, 2023. As Cuban citizens deal with the country´s many problems like electricity blackouts, empty stores and long lines for almost any service, they also have to manage with the lack of public transportation as there is a shortage of working buses and few privately owned vehicles. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)

For many of us, simply bending over to touch our toes can be a difficult. But it's not a problem for the world's bendiest woman Julia Günthel aka Zlata (27). Russian-born Zlata can twist herself like a snake into the most extreme poses imaginable – and has broken numerous world records for her flexibility. The former gymnast, who is 5ft 8in, is so flexible she can cram herself into a 50cm squared box. Photo: Russian-born Zlata is pictured in Fifties style glam while still managing to bend herself in half. (Photo by Barcroft Media)

Photographer Gregg Segal travelled the world to document children and the food they eat in a week. Partly inspired by the increasing problems of childhood obesity, he tracked traditional regional diets as yet unaffected by globalisation, and ironically, found that the healthiest diets were often eaten by the least well off. (Photo by Gregg Segal/The Guardian)

If you want to be Dart Vader, you will have to deal with his everyday problems, too. That’s what Paweł Kadysz is doing with his new photo project. He aims to take a picture every day for a year – and each one of them should show the Dark Lord of the Sith tackling everyday life. Washing dishes, ironing clothes, eating breakfast – all those little things that heroes do off screen.

Actors Ma Sichun (L) and Zhou Dongyu pose backstage after both won the Best Leading Actress award for their movie “Soul Mate” at the 53rd Golden Horse Film Awards in Taipei, Taiwan November 26, 2016. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

Actors from the Israeli theatre group Orto-Da perform during their show titled “Stones”, at a theatre in Tel Aviv March 10, 2015. Inspired by Nathan Rapoport's Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Monument, the play tells a story from the point of view of the sculptures in the monument. (Photo by Amir Cohen/Reuters)

Janelle Monae (L) and Taraji P. Henson pose with the SAG Award for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture award for “Hidden Figures”, during the 23rd annual Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles, California, USA, 29 January 2017. (Photo by Paul Buck/EPA)