A) 1st place WINNER – Roy Rimmer. “This rat was in an outdoor set I made, the set up is two meters long and a meter wide made of Perspex,it has a plywood front with holes cut in for my camera and flash guns, I placed two rusty paint cans in the set up and the rat would leap from one can too the other, I had to use flash to freeze the action”.

A relative (L) of Champa Devi, 88, sits next to her body, minutes after her death at Mukti Bhavan (Salvation House) at Varanasi, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, June 21, 2014. The city of Varanasi, on the banks of the River Ganges, is widely considered Hinduism's holiest city and many Hindus believe that dying there and having their remains scattered in the Ganges allows their soul to escape a cycle of death and rebirth, attaining “moksha” or salvation. “Mukti Bhavan” or “Salvation House”, is a charity-run hostel that caters for people who wish to come to Varanasi to die. Guests can normally stay up to two weeks after which, if they haven't yet passed away, they are gently asked to leave. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

In this Thursday, May 25, 2017 photo, Donte, a musician who only gave his first name, straightens out dollar bills on his first day in a brand new Chewbacca costume purchased from eBay for $441, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Donte said he replaced the old one because he wasn't making any money with it. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

Nyaueth by Peter Zelewski – £2,000 third prize winner. This was taken near London’s Oxford Street as part of Zelewski’s series Beautiful Strangers. Zelewski explains: ‘The aim of Beautiful Strangers is to challenge the concept of traditional beauty with a series of spontaneous street portraits of everyday citizens who show character, uniqueness and a special inner quality’. (Photo by Peter Zelewski/Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2015)

New York Police Department tactical police officers stand guard near the New York Stock Exchange on September 9, 2011 in New York City. Officials are stepping up security in New York and Washington D.C. a day after U.S. officials received a credible but unconfirmed terror threat to utilize car bombs on bridges or tunnels in New York or Washington. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The torrential rain has failed to dampen the spirits of this hyena as he bursts into a hysterical laugh in Kenya, on Oktober 24, 2013. (Photo by Mark Bridger/Solent News & Photo Agency)

P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews)

View of an oil-stained bird on the shore of a contaminated lake in Maracaibo, Venezuela on June 22, 2023. The Azul Ambientalistas foundation denounced on 22 June the “state of emergency” in which the Maracaibo Lake, the largest in Venezuela, finds itself, due to oil spills that, it assured, are affecting the lake economy and the health of the people. (Photo by Henry Chirinos/EPA)

Imaan Hammam's sister Aicha wishing sister Dutch fashion model Imaan Hammam a happy birthday in the first decade of October 2024. (Photo by Instagram)