Photographer Lori Nix hand-crafted dioramas are fictional scenes of a post-apocalyptic world in which plants and decay reclaim both grand and mundane structures. Each structure is built in Nix's living room and can take over half a year to build. Photo: Library, 2007. Photographer Lori Nix says this is the most popular image she has made for this project that she calls “The City”. (Photo by Lori Nix)

Merit Prize Winner: “A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara”. This photo of Moussa Macher, our Tuareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top. It only took ten minutes of rolling, running, and jumping to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park World Heritage area, famous for its red sand and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder. Photo location: Summit of Tin-Merzouga, Tadrat, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Algeria. (Photo and caption by Evan Cole/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Far from the fancy throngs who gather at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance every year, another collection of car enthusiasts strive to cough up the worst cars imaginable. The Concours d'Lemons gathers the Edsels, Yugos and Azteks of yesteryear to give the freaky and foul their day in the sun. Photo: The 1973 Electra-King three-wheeler, the dead evolutionary branch of today's electric cars. (Photo by Robert Kerian/Yahoo Autos)

Clown/comedian/filmmaker Pierre Etaix attends The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences' Presents “Pierre Etaix: The Laughter Returns” at AMPAS Samuel Goldwyn Theater on November 16, 2011 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Valerie Macon/Getty Images)

Forgotten Guerrero. A female member of the community defence force holds her weapon. Since early 2019, the village has been attacked repeatedly by Los Ardillos cartel, prompting residents to take action. Rincón de Chautla, Guerrero, 10 June 2019. (Photo by Alfredo Bosco/Luz with the support of Le Figaro Magazine, Winner of the 2020 Humanitarian Visa d’or award, International Committee of the Red Cross/International Festival of Photojournalism 2020)

A gray heron (Ardea cinerea) that fished a common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in Geneva, Switzerland, 21 April 2019. (Photo by Martial Trezzini/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Alexander Levine crosses the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge during the marathon in New York on November 3, 2024. (Photo by Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters)

Soldiers take a selfie on the plateform at a metro station in Ho Chi Minh City on December 22, 2024. Thousands of selfie-taking Ho Chi Minh City residents crammed into train carriages on December 22, as the traffic-clogged business hub celebrated the opening of its first-ever metro line after years of delays. (Photo by Nhac Nguyen/AFP Photo)