A woman throws fallen leaves and jumps while posing for a photo at the Bauman garden in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, October 14, 2025. (Photo by Pavel Bednyakov/AP Photo)

A woman and her dog compete in the Paris Sausage Walk along the banks of the River Seine on Sunday, November 16, 2025. The event raises funds for the well-being and adoption of dachshunds. (Photo by Dimtitar Dilkoff/AFP Photo)

Activists perform on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, in Rome, Tuesday, November 25, 2025 (Photo by Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via AP Photo)

Elderly people attend an aquatic exercise at a private pool in Bangkok, Thailand, April 28, 2016. Many Thai families look after elderly relatives at a cost that countrywide adds up to just under a third of household income. The number of families facing this issue will balloon as the population ages at a rate among the fastest in Southeast Asia. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

Sports Finalist – Ian MacNicol. Michalina Kwasniewska of Poland competes in the Women's high jump during day one of The European Athletics U23 Championships 2013 on July 11, 2013 in Tampere, Finland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Agence France-Presse)

Photographer Vincent Jansen travels throughout Europe, visiting beautiful abandoned places. He explores churches, factories, sanatoriums, mortuaries, villas and theaters, all quietly waiting for renovation or demolition. His photos show a unique perspective on what is happening behind the “no trespassing” signs: where nature is slowly gaining ground and the desolation, loneliness and decay leave their stunning traces. Photo: This piano was located in one of many rooms of a huge chateau in Poland. (Photo by Vincent Jansen)

Merit Prize Winner: “A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara”. This photo of Moussa Macher, our Tuareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top. It only took ten minutes of rolling, running, and jumping to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park World Heritage area, famous for its red sand and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder. Photo location: Summit of Tin-Merzouga, Tadrat, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Algeria. (Photo and caption by Evan Cole/National Geographic Photo Contest)

A gibbon drinks from a soft drink bottle, given by a tourist, at a zoo in Kunming, Yunnan province, June 18, 2015. (Photo by Wong Campion/Reuters)