Spectators using virtual reality glasses at the “Los Ultimos Dias De Pompeia” Exhibition at Matadero on September 06, 2023 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Borja B. Hojas/Getty Images)

American rapper Cardi B poses for a photo during Hot 97 Summer Jam 2021 at Met Life Stadium on August 22, 2021 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)

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 cat sits in the flooding waters from Hurricane Matthew in downtown Nichols, South Carolina, October 10, 2016. (Photo by Randall Hill/Reuters)

Jennifer Lopez And Giuseppe Zanotti Celebrate Their New Shoe Collaboration at Neiman Marcus on January 26, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by FameFlynet)

A man rides a horse at a playground on a hill in Kabul April 19, 2015. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)

Cheyenne Catchpole and Erica Hill kiss during the annual LGBTQ+ Capital Pride parade in Washington on June 8, 2024. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Reuters)