The Sun rises above the forest near Kiskorpad, Hungary, 02 January 2021. (Photo by Gyorgy Varga/EPA/EFE)

In 1994, after the fall of the Soviet Union, all Ukrainians had to get a new passport – and photographer Alexander Chekmenev was on hand to take their photos. The snatched extra shots he took are remarkable in their honesty and tenderness. (Photo by Alexander Chekmenev/The Guardian)

Residents (R to L) Luiza, Janubie, Leiticia and Lucas sit beneath an overpass near their houses in an impoverished area in the unpacified Complexo da Mare slum complex, one of the largest “favela” complexes in Rio, on March 18, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Creative imagery, gold winner: Sprats and Bread, Ruediger Schulz, Germany. (Photo by Ruediger Schulz/2021 Bird Photographer of the Year)

Students perform a traditional dance during the Onam festival celebrations in Chennai on August 25, 2023. (Photo by R. Satish Babu/AFP Photo)

“I was born in Zimbabwe, Africa in 1981 and grew up in Las Cruces, New Mexico. I graduated with a degree in Acting, and after college, worked as an actor and musician for the Santa Fe Shakespeare Festival, the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, and the California Shakespeare Theater. I have had a lifelong passion for drawing, painting, and sculpture since I first saw Michelangelo's “Head of Leda” in a book in the library”.

“Honorable Mention”. An Indian rhinoceros, far from home and stuck inside with late-winter blues at the Toronto zoo. Photo location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo and caption by Stephen De Lisle/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Demonstrators protest the shooting death of Alton Sterling near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. July 9, 2016. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Reuters)