A pool ingeniously filled with clear water in the middle of Lake Kerniki in Greece enabled this shot of feeding pelicans. (Photo by Bence Mate/Close Up Photographer of the Year 2020)
These brave models show no fear as they pose with bears, tigers and wolves in scenes straight from the pages of a fairy tale. The snaps show the models cuddling up to the deadly animals and even taking naps with the often unpredictable creatures. Here: “Marina with a bear”. Stepan, a 700-pound grizzly bear, was adopted by a Russian couple when he was just 3 months old. (Photo by Olga Barantseva/Caters News Agency)
A Christian worshipper reacts as she takes part in the Christian Orthodox Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City, April 30, 2016. (Photo by Amir Cohen/Reuters)
A Ukrainian service member shoots from a machine gun at a position on the front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the town of New York, Donetsk region, Ukraine on June 9, 2022. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)
French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who is pregnant, welcomes the spouses of heads of state at at Le Ciro's Resaturant on the second day of the G8 Summit on May 27, 2011 in Deauville, France. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Muslim pilgrims pray on top of the rocky hill known as Mountain of Mercy on the Plain of Arafat during the annual hajj pilgrimage near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, July 30, 2020. Only about 1,000 pilgrims will be allowed to perform the annual hajj pilgrimage this year due to the virus pandemic. (Photo by Saudi Ministry of Media via AP Photo)
Steven de Costa of France, top, and Kalvis Kalnins of Latvia react during the men's kumite -67kg elimination round for Karate at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, August 5, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Vincent Thian/AP Photo)
Belarussian policemen detain a woman in central Minsk on August 11, 2020. Thousands of opposition supporters who also protested the results met with a tough police crackdown in Minsk and several other Belarusian cities for two straight nights. (Photo by Uladz Hrydzin/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)