Brazilian tattoo artist Michel Praddo, also known as Diabao or Human Satan, and his wife Carol Praddo, known as Mulher Demonia or Demon Woman, take a picture with a fan at the beach shore in Praia Grande, Brazil on August 18, 2021. (Photo by Carla Carniel/Reuters)

Marine researcher Tomasz Furmanek, 44, from Bøjarnesveien, Norway, takes stunning images while kayaking through various fjords and lakes in the Scandinavian country. During Tomasz’s free time, he works as a freelance photographer traveling around the lakes, fjords and coastal regions of the beautiful country – and capturing breathtaking photographs. Here: Hardangerfjorden, near Ullensvang. (Photo by Thomasz Furmanek/Caters News Agency)

“Two Brothers”. We found about 20 lions eating a buffalo. When the male leaved the group we anticipated him to take photos. It is 8AM, light is perfect and the position too. The lion stops and looks down from the hill, another lion is coming up, it stiffens, I think that will be a fight, i'm tense, the camera is OK, the shots previously made perfect. The two meet, looking directly into their eyes, they sniff, rub against their heads, the tension drops, they start walking with the same step as when they were puppies, they are two brothers. Photo location: Masai Mara, Kenya. (Photo and caption by Massimo Mei/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Commended. In late May, about a quarter of a million snow geese arrive from North America to nest on Wrangel Island, in northeastern Russia. They form the world's largest breeding colony of snow geese. Photographer Sergey Gorshkov spent two months on the remote island photographing the unfolding dramas. Arctic foxes take advantage of the abundance of eggs, caching surplus eggs for leaner times. But a goose (here the gander) is easily a match for a fox, which must rely on speed and guile to steal eggs. “The battles were fairly equal”, notes Sergey, “and I only saw a fox succeed in grabbing an egg on a couple of occasions, despite many attempts”. Surprisingly, “the geese lacked any sense of community spirit”, he adds, “and never reacted when a fox harassed a neighboring pair nesting close by”. (Photo by Sergey Gorshkov/Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer)

A woman holds a rooster burned during a fire on a hill, where more than 100 homes were burned due to a forest fire but there have been no reports of death, local authorities said in Valparaiso, Chile January 2, 2017. (Photo by Rodrigo Garrido/Reuters)

Deadwood is pictured in the onetime spa and resort town Epecuen, November 5, 2015. Over the past few years the town of Epecuen, located 550 km (341 miles) southwest of Buenos Aires, has been attracting tourists with its eerie apocalyptic atmosphere after a flood submerged it in salt water for more than two decades. Photo by Enrique Marcarian/Reuters)

A motorcycle Majestic 350 CC 1931 is displayed on February 5, 2014 at the Grand Palais in Paris on the eve of an auction of luxury vintage cars. (Photo by Francois Guillot/AFP Photo)

Only the most intrepid urban explorers cross the tattered ruins of the old Iron Curtain to endure the excessive bureaucracy, military paranoia and freezing winds of the East to hunt for the ghosts of an empire. Rebecca Litchfield is one who couldn’t resist the haunting allure of the ruins of the Soviet Union.