Alpine Skiing, FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup, Men's Parallel Giant Slalom, Alta Badia, Italy on December 19, 2016. Hostesses take a bath in a Jacuzzi pool during the race. (Photo by Stefano Rellandini/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)

Technical staff take shelter as a helicopter takes off prior to the Nendaz Freeride skiing and snowboard competition, a Freeride World Tour Qualifier (FWQ) event, on the Mont Gond in Nendaz, Switzerland on March 21, 2018. (Photo by Valentin Flauraud/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Aerobatic pilot Sean D. Tucker flies in the two-seat Oracle Extra airplane over downtown Chicago skyline, Wednesday, June 8, 2016. Tucker will perform before the start of of the America's Cup World Series racing on Saturday and Sunday. (Photo by Kiichiro Sato/AP Photo)

Photochromes are vibrant and nuanced prints hand-coloured from black-and-white negatives. Created using a process pioneered in the 1880s, these images offer a fascinating insight into the world when colour photography was still in its infancy. A Tour of the World in Photochromes is at the Swiss Camera Museum, Vevey, until 21 August. Here: Street food in the Strada del Porto in Naples, Italy, 1899. (Photo by Swiss Camera Museum/The Guardian)

World medieval jousting champion Rod Walker poses before next month’s St Ives Medieval Faire, the only solid wood lance joust tournament in the southern hemisphere in Sydney, Australia on August 26, 2016. (Photo by Dan Himbrechts/AAP)

Mark Dill and Brit Thacker practice acro-yoga as approximately 70,000 people from all over the world gather for the 30th annual Burning Man arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, U.S. August 29, 2016. (Photo by Jim Urquhart/Reuters)

An armed youth loyal to the Houthi movement takes part in a protest against the Saudi-backed exiled government deciding to cut off the Yemeni central bank from the outside world, in the capital Sanaa, Yemen August 25, 2016. (Photo by Mohamed al-Sayaghi/Reuters)