A model poses at Checkpoint Charlie, a historic place in the German capital to promote the fashion magazine “Sous” on June 12, 2012. (Photo by Maurizio Gambarini)

“Secrets of the Whales”. Skerry’s photographs celebrate the lives and culture of whales, illuminating recent research and their diverse behaviours. His latest work focuses on four key species: sperm whales, humpbacks, orca and beluga whales. Humpback whales bubble-net feeding off the coast of Alaska. They work cooperatively to feed on herring by blowing a perfect ring of bubbles underwater to form a net encircling the fish. The whales then swim up through the centre of the bubble net with their mouths open. (Photo by Brian Skerry/National Geographic Photo/Visa pour l'Image)

Shortlisted: The Life: A narrow strip, Río Tinto, Huelva, Spain. A narrow strip of road divides ochre-coloured and fresh waters. Trees wait on the fresh side of the road opposite the toxic waters of a nearby mine reservoir. (Photo by Roberto Bueno/CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year 2021)

Poisoned River. Abstract Winner. A detailed photograph of a stream filled with poison. “Poisoned Beauty” is a personal project that tells the story of the natural disaster in the Apuseni Mountains in Transylvania, which was a result of chemical waste generated by copper and gold mining, but in a beautifully abstract way. (Photo by Gheorghe Popa/Drone Photography Awards 2021)

Twenty-year-old women dressed in kimonos walk during sunset after the “Coming-of-Age Day” celebration Yokohama Arena in Yokohama on January 11, 2021 under a state of emergency over the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)

Two rescued pangolins sit in a basket during a news conference in Bangkok on June 7, 2012. Thai customs rescued 110 pangolins worth about $35,500 that they say were to be sold outside the country as exotic food. The animals, hidden in a pickup truck, were seized at a customs checkpoint in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, south of Bangkok. (Photo by Sakchai Lalit/Associated Press)

A model waits backstage to present creations from the Fall-Winter 2021/2022 collection of the Georgiela Studio fashion brand during a young talents “EGO” fashion show on the last day of the 73rd Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid, in Madrid, Spain, 11 April 2021. The fashion event runs from 08 to 11 April. (Photo by Mariscal/EPA/EFE)

With the world feeling more distant than ever, photographers were this year called on to translate their vision of the new humanity into images seen through their own eyes. Here: May. (Photo by Ami Vitale/2021 Lavazza Calendar)