Rowers enter in Canaregio river during the 42nd Venice Vogalonga on May 15, 2016 in Venice, Italy. 42 years ago a group of Venetians, both amateur and professional rowers, came up with an idea of non-competitive race in which any kind of rowing boat can take part. The first Vogalonga began with the message to protest against the growing use of powerboats in Venice and the swell damage they do to the historic city. (Photo by Awakening/Getty Images)

“Strike Through The Mothership”. Every May for the last 3 years I have driven down to Tornado Alley to capture some amazing storms. This supercell held so much promise to drop a tornado but one small shift in the atmosphere and all that it produced was an extreme lightning show. Photo location: Broken Bow, Nebraska. (Photo and caption by Vanessa Neufeld/National Geographic Photo Contest)

A gallery staff member walks past Fleeting Monument (1985) by artist Cornelia Parker, one of the works on display at Yorkshire Sculpture Parks Longside Gallery as part of the “Making It: Sculpture in Britain 1977-1986” exhibition on March 27, 2015 in Barnsley, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Residents cross a swelling dam, due to rising waters brought about by Typhoon Koppu, in Las Pinas city, metro Manila October 19, 2015. Powerful typhoon Koppu ploughed into the northeastern Philippines before dawn on Sunday destroying homes and displacing 10,000 people and whipping up coastal surges four meters (12 feet) high, disaster agency officials said. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Reuters)

A woman tries a swing in front of a screen featuring New York scenes during the new Air France Exhibition called “Air France, France is in the Air” in New York June 25, 2014. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

The eighth annual Nipponbashi Street Festa stamped Osaka March 20, 2012 (Nipponbashi is Osaka’s geek district – much like Akihabara is for Tokyo). Cosplayers turned up in colourful outfits, dressing as characters from their favourite manga, anime, and video games. The street was closed to cars, and otaku flooded the streets, snapping pics, cosplaying, and hanging out.

Vanessa, thirty-five, had three children with an abusive husband. She “lost her mind, started doing heroin”, after losing the children, who were taken away and given to her mother. The drugs led to homelessness and prostitution. She grew up on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, but now spends her time in Hunts Point, “trying to survive everyday. Just doing whatever it takes”.

Hirari Ikeda, a well-known Harajuku street fashion personality, on the street in Shibuya. (Photo by Tokyo Fashion)