Shortlisted: “Two big eyes” by Miao Yong (Zejiang province, China). Damselflies look over the leaves. “I was photographing insects in a park near my home when suddenly I found two damselflies in the grass. They kept flying and it was very difficult to focus until suddenly they parked behind a leaf”. (Photo by Miao Yong/2017 Royal Society of Biology Photographer of the Year)

Yakutsk, with a population of around 270,000, holds its own title: that of the coldest city on Earth. Here: Frost-encrusted house in the city centre. (Photo by Amos Chapple/Courtesy Images/RFE/RL)

Photographer Han Youngsoo captured the ordinary people of Korea as the country emerged from war into an age of prosperity. Han Youngsoo: Photographs of Seoul 1956–63 is at the International Center of Photography (ICP), Jersey City, New Jersey, until June 9, 2017. Here: Seoul, Korea. (Photo by Han Youngsoo/The Guardian)

The Golden Gai is a sliver of old Tokyo in a modern metropolis filled with endless gleaming buildings. It's a one-of-a-kind tourist attraction, for sure. But it's also a place for a few drinks and friendly chatter among exhausted workers known as “salarymen”. Here: A man strolls through a narrow alleyway clustered with tiny bars and restaurants at the Golden Gai in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, July 17, 2019. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

Two brown bear cubs born at Whipsnade Zoo. (Photo by Evening Standard/Getty Images). 1970

Event entertainer Holly Egan poses with a guitar using an angle grinder as Kevin Jay and Nigel Cox spin burning steel wool, sending sparks flying under the A13 in Essex, UK on April 4, 2024. (Photo by Kevin Jay/Picture Exclusive)

Portrait couple lover on the beach, Landing aircraft above the beach at Phuket Airport, Mai Khao beach, one of the most popular beaches among tourists in Phuket, Thailand, 2018. (Photo by Pakin Songmor/Getty Images)