Racing fans soak up the sunshine and dress to impress during Ladies Day at the Aintree Grand National meeting on April 8, 2011 in Aintree, England. Friday is traditionally Ladies day at the three-day meeting of the world famous Grand National, where fashion is as important as the racing.

A Japanese girl poses in a costume at a Chara Fes (character festival) event on October 26, 2003 in Tokyo. Cosplay (costume play) is becoming popular among Japanese youths, whereby participants dress up as their favourite characters from comics, computer games and animation. (Photo by Junko Kimura/Getty Images)

A Russian trenchmortar crew run to take up a new firing position in the Stalingrad area during the Great Patriotic War. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). October 1942

A construction worker sweeps up as the final touches are completed on “Comedy Carpet” by British artist Gordon Young, the latest art installation on Blackpool's promenade on October 7, 2011 in Blackpool, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

A golden huddle by Minqiang Lu, China. Two females and a male golden snub-nosed monkey huddle together to keep warm in the extreme cold. Threatened by forest loss and fragmentation, this endangered species is confined to central China. Restricted to living high up in the temperate forests, these monkeys – here in the Qinling mountains in Shaanxi province – feed mostly in the trees, on leaves, bark, buds and lichen. In heavy wind and snow, Minqiang walked up the mountain carrying his equipment. He stayed for half an hour in temperatures of –10C opposite the tree where the group was huddled before achieving this eye-level composition. (Photo by Minqiang Lu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

Austrian photographer Klaus Pichler has come up with an interesting and creative take on portrait photography – his photo series “Just The Two Of Us” features portraits of people dressed as their cosplay alter-egos. What’s fun about this series is that it seems to combine the costumed characters and the people wearing them, as the sometimes-fearsome characters are photographed in the relatively tame safety of their own homes.

A burning train wagon is seen after an explosion at Lac Megantic, Quebec, July 6, 2013. A large swath of Lac Megantic was destroyed Saturday after a train carrying crude oil derailed, sparking several explosions and forcing the evacuation of up to 1,000 people. (Photo by Mathieu Belanger/Reuters)