Shooting star by Tony Wu, US/Japan. Winner, underwater. The electrifying reproductive dance of a giant sea star. As the surrounding water filled with sperm and eggs from spawning sea stars, Wu faced several challenges. Stuck in a small, enclosed bay with only a macro lens for photographing small subjects, he backed up to squeeze the undulating sea star into his field of view. The dancing posture of spawning sea stars rising and swaying may help release eggs and sperm, or may help sweep the eggs and sperm into the currents where they fertilise together in the water. Kinko Bay, Japan. (Photo by Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

A huge atlas moth, with a wingspan of more than 9in, photographed on an areca nut plantation in Sirsi, India. (Photo by Uday Hegde/Close Up Photographer of the Year)

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)

First place, The Beauty of Plants. “There are many stages of lotus growth on display at the Aquatic Gardens, but to come across twotwisted dancing stems of nelumbo nucifera was unexpected and quite magical”. (Photo by Kathleen Furey/The Guardian)

This outrageous display of facial hair configurations made an appearance at the 4th Annual National Beard and Mustache Championships in New Orleans. Luckily Las Vegas-based photographer Greg Anderson was on-hand to give us a front-row seat as the bizarre spectacle of facial hair paraded in front of his camera lens. The championships involved some 150 contestants from the U.S., U.K., and Canada who competed in 17 different categories.

“I wonder about everyone that I photograph, what are they thinking at the moment, what is going on in their life, what are they really like. Photographs are such abstractions of real life, both true and false at the same time and so limited in the scope of what can be captured, yet limitless in how it stimulates our imagination. Indeed, photography is a rich medium”. – Mike Peters. Photo: Meatpacking District, NYC, September 28, 2012. (Photo by Mike Peters)

David LaChapelle, Land Scape Anaheim, 2013, chromogenic print, 70 3/4 x 95 inches, 179.7 x 241.3 cm, edition of 3. Image courtesy of the artist and Paul Kasmin Gallery. (Photo by David LaChapelle Studio)

“Venus & Furs” by Swiss Photographer Yann Gross, 2011. Hyères Fashion & Photography Festival, France. Photo: “Tatiana and Belene, from the series Venus & Furs”. Taylor Wessing photographic portrait prize 2011. (Photo by Yann Gross)