In this August 24, 2019 photo, a tractor pulls a trailer that was converted into a swimming pool as it drives along the roads of El Infernal neighborhood in San Andres in the province of Pinar del Río, Cuba. The idea for the mobile tractor-pool was hatched by local parents, to make their kids happy and fight the harsh Caribbean heat. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)

In one of the planet’s most desolate and harsh terrains, the Altai Mountains which run from Siberia in Russia down to Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, hunting with eagles is currently only practiced by a handful of Kyrgyz and Kazakhs. This form of falconry, the practice of hunting with the aid of birds of prey, can be traced back as far as 4,000 years in Central Asia. Here: after a successful hunt, a proud hunter rewards his eagle by feeding it the lungs of the prey, which is considered the most highly prized part of the animal. (Photo by Tariq Zaidi/The Washington Post)

Woolland Woods, Dorset. Landscape photographer of the year 2020. “Taken in spring of 2018 in a wooded area close to Milborne St Andrew in Dorset, this was the third visit to the area in a matter of days. On the previous days, both devoid of morning mists, the light had been harsh and unappealing but the third day delivered stunning conditions with mist swirling through the trees. The low shooting position allowed more emphasis to be placed on the wild garlic and pathway”. (Photo by Chris Frost/UK Landscape Photographer of the Year 2020)

An Afghan woman fills containers with water near her temporary shelter at an internally displaced person's (IDP) camp on the outskirts of Herat, Afghanistan, January 21, 2015. Dozens of families are living in temporary shelters even in harsh winters and most depend on aid distributions by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (Photo by Jalil Rezayee/EPA)

A seagull eats a piece of dried fish of a man's hand during sunset at Bang Pu seaside resort in Samut Prakan province on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, 13 January 2019. Every year during the cold winter months between October to March thousands of seagulls migrate to Bang Pu seaside from Siberia to escape the harsh winter. (Photo by Diego Azubel/EPA/EFE)

A child sitting in a washbowl filled with water cools himself as civilians struggle with protecting themselves from the dangers of extreme heat at the refugee camp, in Idlib, Syria on July 13, 2023. The civilians, who fled from the attacks of the Syrian Army, live under harsh conditions without infrastructure and electricity while the temperature reaches 47 Celsius in the region. (Photo by Izzeddin Kasim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Geraldine Moodie overcame harsh conditions to become western Canada’s first professional female photographer, capturing beautiful images in the country’s most remote regions. An exhibition, “North of Ordinary: The Arctic Photographs of Geraldine and Douglas Moodie”, is at Glenbow, Calgary, 18 February – 10 September. Here: Inuit woman, Kootucktuck, in her beaded attigi. Fullerton Harbour, Nunavut, February 1905. (Photo by Geraldine Moodie/The Guardian)

Aurorae category runner-up: Lone Tree under a Scandinavian Aurora by Tom Archer (UK). The photographer decided to explore the area around the hotel on a very crisp -35C evening in Finnish Lapland. When he found this tree, he decided to wait for the misty conditions to change and could not believe his luck when the sky cleared and the aurora came out in the perfect spot. Archer spent about an hour photographing it before his camera started to lock up because of the harsh conditions, but by then he was happy to call it a night. (Photo by Tom Archer/2020 Astronomy Photographer of the Year)