In this June 29, 2015 photo, forlorn buildings are seen at Hashima Island, commonly known as Gunkanjima, which means “Battleship Island”, off Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture, southern Japan. The island is one of 23 old industrial facilities seeking UNESCO's recognition as world heritage “Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution” meant to illustrate Japan's rapid transformation from a feudal farming society into an industrial power at the end of the 19th century. UNESCO's World Heritage Committee is expected to approve the proposal during a meeting being held in Bonn, Germany, through July 9. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)

Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

People watch as lava flows from an eruption of a volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland late on Monday, March 29, 2021. Iceland's latest volcano eruption is still attracting crowds of people hoping to get close to the gentle lava flows. The eruption in Geldingadalur, near Iceland's capital Reykjavik, is not seen as a threat to nearby towns and the slow flows mean people can get close to action without too much harm. (Photo by Marco Di Marco/AP Photo)

Revellers hit the town on Saturday, February 19, 2022 for a pub crawl despite the snow in Leeds, United Kingdom. The UK capital was placed under its first ever “red” weather warning, meaning there is “danger to life”. The same level of alert was in place across southern England and South Wales, where schools were closed and transport paralysed. (Photo by Nb press ltd)

French artist Julien Breton aka Kaalam started calligraphy in 2001 by copying Arabic calligraphers. Self-taught, he began to incorporate long exposure photography to create incredible light paintings around the world. All of the images in this gallery were created in-camera, meaning there is no Photoshop trickery or post-production manipulation involved in creating these works of art.

A genetically engineered featherless rooster struts around the campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Department of Agriculture May 22, 2002 in Rehovot, Israeli. After two years of research, departmental scientists announced the naked chicken, as it has been dubbed, as a low calorie bird because the lack of feathers means the chicken has less fat. It also matures earlier than its feathered counterparts. (Photo by Moshe Milner/GPO/Getty Images)

Shortlisted images in the running to be crowned Photobox Instagram photograph of the year range from furry friends to the Holi festival to the meaning of love. Judges, including the Guardian’s former picture editor Eamonn McCabe, have whittled down 180,000 submissions to unearth a shortlist that celebrates the best of social media. Winners will be announced October 3, 2018. Here: Najac, France. Travel shortlist. (Photo by Aaron Jenkin/@aaronjenkin)

In a remote location in rural America, a photographer has discovered a rather unique gathering: row after row of presidential busts. Like a zombie graveyard, the field contains 43 gigantic sculptures, ranging from Dick Nixon and FDR to JFK and Honest Abe. The likenesses weigh between 11,000 and 20,000 pounds, with some standing as tall as 20 feet. Almost all the busts are cracked, crumbling and worn by the elements, adding to their eerie appearance but not preventing the presidents from being recognizable at first glance. Here: Abraham Lincoln in front of presidential busts. (Photo by David Ogden/Caters News)