“I was on Durga Puja Festival vacation, travelling on a local train. A boy was singing devotional song and begging for alms. He was guised as a Hindu god, Lord Shiva. This is a common view in Indian trains but this boy was charming, bright and did have a melodious voice. My camera was ready hanging on my neck so I took a picture”. (Photo and caption by Arup Ghosh/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)

The President was staying at a Marriott in Warsaw recently where someone secretly shot video of him working out in the hotel gym. There has been a surprising amount of criticism of this. The Secret Service is getting criticized and fitness experts have been criticizing Obama's form. He's even taking it on the chin from foreign leaders.

The V8 Hotel in Stuttgart is a car-lover’s heaven, it´s a theme hotel with a design clearly inspired by the car world. The Hotel is located in an auto museum called Böblingen’s Meilenwerk in Stuttgart, Germany. The hotel features themed rooms fit for both mechanics and car enthusiasts alike, it has four single rooms, 19 double rooms, tower suite and 10 theme-based rooms designed to impress visitors.

The V8 Hotel in Stuttgart is a car-lover’s heaven, it´s a theme hotel with a design clearly inspired by the car world. The Hotel is located in an auto museum called Böblingen’s Meilenwerk in Stuttgart, Germany. The hotel features themed rooms fit for both mechanics and car enthusiasts alike, it has four single rooms, 19 double rooms, tower suite and 10 theme-based rooms designed to impress visitors.

Honorable Mention: “The Storm”. During I was taking photo with my nephew, the storm came and I caught this beautiful moment. Photo location: Kocaeli, Turkey. (Photo and caption by Aytül Akbaş/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“A huge wasp measuring 2.5 inches in length, visiting the banana tree in my front yard”. (Photo and comment by John Matzick, USA/2013 Sony World Photography Awards via The Atlantic)

“Sometimes i feel like photographers have uncovered a special secret. A crazy, amazing, and beautiful secret. The key to truly living. All i want is to be alive”. – Karrah Kobus

Photo: “All my life i lived in a bubble”. (Photo by Karrah Kobus)

Alice Cooke at the Sydney Women’s Reformatory in 1922. By the time she was 24 Alice Cooke had created an impressive number of aliases and at least two husbands, and was convicted of bigamy and theft. (Photo by My Colorful Past/Mediadrumworld)