An egret in the second decade of April 2025 cools off in the Florida heat by gular fluttering, rapidly vibrating its throat muscles with an open beak. The mechanism helps to dissipate heat through evaporation. (Photo by Ronen Tivony/ZUMA Press Wire/Alamy Live News)

A handout photo made available by Jose Juan Rodriguez Rocha, on 17 November 2021 shows lightning over Cumbre vieja Volcano as seen from El Paso, La Palma, Canary Islands Spain, 14 November 2021. The lightning over a volcano is sometimes seen due to the charge of electricity caused by the friction of the expelled particles within the column of ashes and pyroclastic rocks. (Photo by Jose Juan Rodríguez Rocha/EPA/EFE)

As an American in 1990s Cuba, Tria Giovan risked being branded a traitor. But the photographer continued to visit and, from the dance hall to the hair salon, she captured the resilient spirit of the Cuban people. The 120 images in Tria Giovan’s “The Cuba Archive” are from the period in the 90s when, as an American, travel to Cuba could have seen her branded a traitor, as the country was subject to a US trade embargo. Her trip required lots of planning – and patience. (Photo by Tria Giovan/The Guardian)

Earlier this year, Belgian film-maker and artist Vincent Bal stumbled upon an uncanny resemblance to an elephant in the shadow of his tea cup. This gave him the idea for Shadowology, a series of doodles that interact with the shadows of simple, everyday objects: a banknote, some ice cubes and a flower, for example, can turn into a church, a woman and a hippy. “I draw a few lines and I get my image. It’s really the shadows that inspire me”, Bal says. Here: “Stonedog”. (Photo by Vincent Bal/The Guardian)

A thrill-seeking snapper has shot a powerful series of images featuring people carrying out everyday chores in front of giant storms. Benjamin Von Wong's surreal scenes include individuals ironing, barbecuing, playing video games and even sitting on the toilet – seemingly unaware of the threatening situations approaching. The project was initiated to raise awareness about climate change, and the the storms appearing across six different states in the U.S. Von Wong, 29, started the project in Colorado, before traveling to South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and Nebraska for the unusual images. Here: Models pose in front of a storm in Cheyenne Wyoming. (Photo by Benjamin Von Wongs/Caters News)

A young man dressed as “La Llorona”, participates in a parade called “La Calabiuza” on the eve of the Day of the Dead in Tonacatepeque, El Salvador, November 1, 2019. (Photo by Jose Cabezas/Reuters)

“Show us our butts! Mucawana tribe – Angola. In Soba village, the Muhacaona (Mucawana) tribe, perhaps the best place i have visited. They use cow dung and fat to make this so nice haircut, and love the beads. They asked me to make pictures of their backs... and butts to see on the camera screen if everything was perfect!”. (Photo and comments by Eric Lafforgue)

A veterinarian kisses an 8-month-old cat, wearing a prosthetic two-wheel device, at a veterinary hospital in Chongqing municipality, March 16, 2015. The cat's rear legs lost the abilty to walk after falling from the ninth to fifth floor of a building last November, its since undergone four major surgeries which included removing parts of its organs, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)