Performers dressed as Ded Moroz, the equivalent of Santa Claus, and his granddaughter Snegurochka (Snow Maiden) take on shoe covers as they visit the Republican Scientific and Practical Centre of Pediatric Surgery in Minsk, Belarus, December 28, 2016. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

Two women jump into a frozen pond as they compete in the Polar Plunge at Frozen Dead Guy Days in Nederland, Colorado March 14, 2015. The winter festival in the small mountain town commemorates the 1994 discovery of the corpse of Bredo Morstol, which is now housed in a shed on dry ice above the town. (Photo by Rick Wilking/Reuters)

Vancouver B.C. April 20, 2014 Big Day to celebrate as thousand gathered in front of Vancouver Art Gallery to take part in the 420 Marijuana smoke in here in Vancouver on April 20, 2014. Here lots of free “joints” ready for the big moment. (Photo by Mark van Manen/PNG Staff Photographer/Ian Austin Province News/Vancouver Sun News & Web stories)

“My goal was to capture the image of a storm that emulated an atomic explosion”, Dobrowner says of this picture. Here: “Monsoon”, Lordsburg, N.M., 2010. (Photo by Roger Hill)

In this photo taken on Tuesday, December 20, 2016, dancers of the U.S. company “Catapult” create a group of ostriches, during their show “Magic Shadows”, in Milan, Italy. Dancers in the company create shadow sculptures with their bodies, giving a contemporary twist to the ancient Chinese art of shadow theaters. (Photo by Luca Bruno/AP Photo)

The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) is seen over the sky near the village of Pallas (Muonio region) of Lapland, Finland September 8, 2017. (Photo by Alexander Kuznetsov/Reuters)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and these striking images of 2017 are no exception. The photo highlights include incredible snapshots of the natural world as well as some awesome animal and human encounters. The vibrant gallery also shows thrill-seekers pushing themselves to the limit with breathtaking stunts captured in perfect clarity. The pictures have been taken by a host of photographers from around the world. Here: The two lion cubs singing their hearts out at Antelope park in Zimbabwe. (Photo by David Jenkins/Caters News Agency)

A publican serves a glass of stout to a donkey in the East End of London, 1960s. (Photo by Steve Lewis/Getty Images)