Shortlisted: Pooyan Shadpoor, Houcheraghi. While walking along the shore of Larak, Iran – an island in the Persian Gulf – Shadpoor came across this luminous scene. The “magical lights of (the) plankton ... enchanted me so that I snapped the shot”, he writes. (Photo by Pooyan Shadpoor/2016 EPOTY)

A reveler takes part in the 19th Gay Pride Parade at downtown Caracas, Venezuela on June 30, 2019. (Photo by Federico Parra/AFP Photo)

The opening of sculptor Carole Feuerman solo outdoor public art show, Sea Idylls, on Park Avenue in NYC on April 27, 2023. The hyperrealistic sculptures in conjunction with Les Galeries Bartoux and Patrons of Park Avenue line the median. (Photo by Milo Hess/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A couple shelter under an umbrella during a heavy downpour of rain in Belfast, Ireland on Monday, July 31, 2023. (Photo by Liam McBurney/PA Images via Getty Images)

A Russian service member stands next to an acquaintance during preparations ahead of the Victory Day parade in Moscow, Russia on May 9, 2024. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

American vedette, burlesque dancer, model, and businesswoman Dita Von Teese performs during the Alexis Mabille Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2024-2025 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 25, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Francois Durand/Getty Images)

British singer-songwriter Rita Ora performs during Manchester Pride 2024 on August 24, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images)

This photograph shows the installation of French artist Cesar Baldaccini, titled “Cesar's Pouce”, at Palais-Royal Garden public park, in Paris, on October 15, 2024, as part of the Art Basel Paris 2024’s Public Program. (Photo by Thomas Samson/AFP Photo)