“Centuries ago, Inuit hunted the bowhead whale. At that time, whale hunting undoubtedly was part of a complex and very important ritual, if only because of the size of the catch. The position that the ancestors of today's Inuit occupied in the living world involved a relationship with the spirit that inhabited each animal but also their species”. (Photo by Robert Frechette/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)

Now celebrating its 40th year, Nikon Small World is widely regarded as the leading forum to recognize proficiency and photographic excellence of photography taken under the microscope. To select the winners, competition judges analyzed entries from all over the world covering subjects ranging from chemical compounds to up-close-and-personal looks at biological specimens. The 2014 winners will be revealed on October 30th. In 2014, the competition received over 1,200 entries from more than 79 countries around the world. (Photo by Dr. Igor Robert Siwanowicz/Nikon Small World 2014)

Sneha Mindani, 14, one of the survivors of the April 2019 Easter Sunday bomb attack, wipes her tears as her father delivers a speech during a protest to demand justice for this attack, on the third anniversary of the event, near the Presidential Secretariat, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 17, 2022. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A general view of Copacabana beach during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 22, 2020. (Photo by Ricardo Moraes/Reuters)

In this photo taken on Sunday, January 14, 2018, Anastasia Gruzdeva, left, poses for selfie with her friends as the temperature dropped to about –50 degrees (–58 degrees Fahrenheit) in Yakutsk, Russia. Temperatures in the remote, diamond-rich Russian region of Yakutia have dropped to near-record lows, plunging to –67 degrees Centigrade (-88.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas. (Photo by Sakhalife.ru Photo via AP Photo)

A Hawaiian cleaner wrasse provides its cleaning services to a yellowfin goatfish in a reef community off the Big Island in Hawaii. Cleaner species help rid their hosts of ectoparasites, dead tissue, bacteria and fungi. Studies have shown cleaning to play a vital role in keeping many reef ecosystems healthy. (Photo by Marty Snyderman/Caters News Agency)

Staff take no chances at a dog-grooming salon in Rotterdam in the second decade of June 2023. (Photo by RUT/Splash News and Pictures)

Germany's Darja Varfolomeev competes in the individual all-around final of the Olympic qualifier 40th FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Valencia on August 26, 2023. (Photo by Jose Jordan/AFP Photo)