Nyaueth by Peter Zelewski – £2,000 third prize winner. This was taken near London’s Oxford Street as part of Zelewski’s series Beautiful Strangers. Zelewski explains: ‘The aim of Beautiful Strangers is to challenge the concept of traditional beauty with a series of spontaneous street portraits of everyday citizens who show character, uniqueness and a special inner quality’. (Photo by Peter Zelewski/Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2015)

Michael Grant, 28, “Philly Jesus”, carries a 12 foot cross 8 miles through this blighted area of North Philadelphia towards LOVE Park in Center City as part of a Christmas walk to spread the true message of the holiday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania December 20, 2014. As many as a half dozen others joined him for numerous miles as he trekked southward down Broad Street. Some shouted “Praise Jesus!” and “Thank you for doing this!” at the sight. Nearly everyday for the last 8 months, Grant has dressed as Jesus Christ, and walked the streets of Philadelphia to share the Christian gospel by example. He quickly acquired the nickname of “Philly Jesus”, which he has gone by ever since. (Photo by Mark Makela/Reuters)

Actor Howard Coggins performs during the Living Spits Beauty and the Beast comedy at the Bristol Old Vic on December 9, 2020 in Bristol, England. Living Spit stars Howard Coggins and Stu McLoughlin will perform Beauty and the Beast in a series of live broadcasts and on stage shows at the Old Vic from December 18. (Photo by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)

A general view of a beauty salon on July 8, 2023 in Kabul, Afghanistan. This week, a Taliban spokesman said the group, which regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, was ordering the closure of beauty salons because they offered services forbidden by Islam. (Photo by Nava Jamshidi/Getty Images)

Hornets are insects that are the largest eusocial wasps. Some species can reach up to 5.5 cm (2.2 in) in length. The true hornets make up the genus Vespa and are distinguished from other vespines by the width of the vertex (part of the head behind the eyes), which is proportionally larger in Vespa and by the anteriorly rounded gasters (the section of the abdomen behind the wasp waist). The best known species is the European hornet (Vespa crabro), about 2–3.5 cm in length, widely distributed throughout Europe, Russia, North America and Northeast Asia.

“I wonder about everyone that I photograph, what are they thinking at the moment, what is going on in their life, what are they really like. Photographs are such abstractions of real life, both true and false at the same time and so limited in the scope of what can be captured, yet limitless in how it stimulates our imagination. Indeed, photography is a rich medium”. – Mike Peters. Photo: Meatpacking District, NYC, September 28, 2012. (Photo by Mike Peters)

Tip turkey, dumpster chook, rubbish raptor – the Australian white ibis goes by many unflattering names. But it is a true urban success story, scavenging to survive in cities across Australia as wetlands have been lost. Wildlife photographer Rick Stevens captured them in Sydney. Here: Of all the species affected by river regulation in Australia, the ibis is one of the few that has changed its behaviour and moved to coastal cities. (Photo by Rick Stevens/The Guardian)

It's often said that pets and their owners can start to look alike, but these adorable photographs take the old mantra to a new extreme. They are the work of Svetlana Valyiskaya (27), from St Petersburg, who snaps pets in everyday poses in her spare time from her job as a commercial photographer. The vibrant costumes and scenes, which Svetlana designs herself, have made the photos a hit in her native Russia – and it's not hard to see why. She said: “I really love animals, they are loyal, faithful and true and always interesting to work with – plus they never criticise the photographs afterwards”. (Photo by Svetlana Valyiskaya/Mercury)