The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has announced the winners of a UK national photography competition in which we challenged young people aged 14–18 for their unique take on society and the social sciences by asking them to take a picture on the theme of “Where Do I Belong?” – ESRC Press Office. Photo: “Society hurts”. (Photo by Grace Ridge/ESRC)

“Self-educated photographer, Quebec. I always impassioned myself for the animal world and natural spaces, in particular for the red squirrels and the titmouses. Having reached sixty and more, I am nothing any more has to prove but all has to show”. – Andre Villeneuve. Photo: “Eat and run”. (Photo by Andre Villeneuve)

“Residents in a small town littered with giant potholes may be ready to “crack” the art world – after turning their massively damaged roads into hilarious masterpieces. Fun-natured drivers from Scranton, Pennsylvania have been challenged by an arts group to turn the ugly craters in their neighborhood into pothole art”. – Caters News. Photo: Cereal bowl pothole. (Photo by Caters News)

The contest began in 2007, and since then photographers from more than 70 countries have entered. Photo: Michael O'Neal of San Francisco won first place in the animals category in the 2014 iPhone Photography Awards. (Photo by Michael O'Neal)

Takehiko Yagi is a rising star in Japanese photography, and his vibrant pictures of the Hindu spring festival of Holi won the Grand Prize at the fourth annual Nikkei National Geographic Photo Prize. Diving into the Colors of Holi is his first exhibition in the US, on show at Foto Care Gallery in New York until 28 September, 2016. Here: Jaipur, India, 2013, (Photo by Takehiko Yagi/The Guardian)

Joseph Szabo was a frustrated high-school teacher in need of inspiration – so he started photographing his students, and captured all the angst and excitement of being caught between childhood and adulthood. Here: “Priscilla”, 1969. (Photo by Joseph Szabo/Courtesy of Michael Hoppen Gallery/The Guardian)

Dead leaf or almost by Guilhem Duvot. Taken in Nován Stráž, Slovakia. Describe what is pictured? A dead leaf grasshopper. How does this image fit with the theme of the competition? The perfect camouflage – nature is amazing. I saw the grasshopper only because it jumped. (Photo by Guilhem Duvot/Royal Society of Biology)

Alien-themed decorations are seen at the Alien Research Center in Hiko, September 19, 2019. Scores of UFO enthusiasts converged on rural Nevada for a pilgrimage of sorts to the U.S. installation known as Area 51, long rumored to house government secrets about alien life, as law enforcement officials beefed up security around the military base. (Photo by Jim Urquhart/Reuters)