A performer dances during Salgueiro performance at the Rio de Janeiro Carnival at Sambodromo on February 26, 2017 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Raphael Dias/Getty Images)

Mexican fashion model Daniela de Jesus Cosio attends the screening of “Nostalgia” during the 75th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 24, 2022 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters)

Dressed up participants run at the “Course de la Marmite” during the 46th Escalade Race (Course de l'Escalade) in Geneva, Switzerland, 07 December 2024. (Photo by Martial Trezzini/EPA/EFE)

Tim Laman is a field biologist and wildlife photojournalist. His pioneering research in the rain forest canopy in Borneo led to a PhD from Harvard and his first National Geographic article in 1997. Since then, he has pursued his passion for exploring wild places and documenting little-known and endangered wildlife by becoming a regular contributor to National Geographic. He has eighteen articles to his credit to date, all of which have had a conservation message. Some have focused on endangered species such as Orangutans or Hornbills, while others, such as a series of articles on Conservation International’s Biodiversity Hotspots, have highlighted regions under intense pressure.

The Ring of Life is a 515-foot (approximately 157 meters) landmark built in the city of Fushun, China. The landmark is built with an observation deck accessible by elevator, as well as 12,000 LED lights. Having abandoned local entertainment projects due to the small local population, urban planners settled on building a sightseeing landmark instead in order to attract a tourist industry to the region. The structure uses approximately 3,000 tons of steel and cost an estimated $16M U.S. dollars.

Vanessa, thirty-five, had three children with an abusive husband. She “lost her mind, started doing heroin”, after losing the children, who were taken away and given to her mother. The drugs led to homelessness and prostitution. She grew up on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, but now spends her time in Hunts Point, “trying to survive everyday. Just doing whatever it takes”.

Diesel is poured into a container at theArea 10 shopping centre in Abuja, Nigeria May 25, 2015. Nigerian fuel marketers agreed to resume distribution on Monday after weeks of disruption led to chronic fuel shortages, bringing phone companies, banks and airlines to a standstill days before the inauguration of the country's new president. (Photo by Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters)