Shortlisted: Pooyan Shadpoor, Houcheraghi. While walking along the shore of Larak, Iran – an island in the Persian Gulf – Shadpoor came across this luminous scene. The “magical lights of (the) plankton ... enchanted me so that I snapped the shot”, he writes. (Photo by Pooyan Shadpoor/2016 EPOTY)

An Iraq fan poses before the World Cup 2022 Qualifier 2nd round Group C football match between Iraq and Iran at Amman International Stadium in Amman, Jordan on November 14, 2019. (Photo by Muhammad Hamed/Reuters)

Sharafkhaneh port and lake Urmia. Masoud Ghadiri (Iran). The summer Milky Way is very prominent in this photo. On the galaxy zone, Saturn is located besides the Lagoon nebula. On the right of the horizon, you can see the extreme light pollution of Urmia, which is caused by ever-increasing city development. (Photo by Masoud Ghadiri/National Maritime Museum)

In this image released on September 22, Filipino-American social media personality and singer Bella Poarch attends Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 presented by Amazon Prime Video at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in Los Angeles, California; and broadcast on September 24, 2021. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 Presented by Amazon Prime Video)

In this image released on September 23, Puerto Rican model Joan Smalls is seen during Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 presented by Amazon Prime Video at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in Los Angeles, California; and broadcast on September 24, 2021. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 Presented by Amazon Prime Video)

Grand Champion Oakhurst Crusin' in Chrome, an Australian Shepard, poses backstage at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show after winning best of opposite s*x on February 13, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Getty Images)

Nicole Scherzinger at the “The X Factor” TV show, Series 14, Episode 15, Judges' Houses in Sun City, South Africa on October 21, 2017. (Photo by Dymond/Thames/Syco/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Social activists working for the rights of sеx workers celebrate with colour powder during the International Sеx Workers' Rights Day in Kolkata on March 3, 2020. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP Photo)