There is something strangely appealing about the set of pictures created by Sandro Giordano in a series “In Extremis (Bodies With No Regret)”. Could it be the absurdity of the situation? Or the fact that our brain tries to make up some bizarre story to justify what is happening in the pictures? Of course it is impossible to explain why a pair of tennis players ended up lying flat on the ground with a pack of bananas hanging on the net, even if we forget about the tennis racket lodged in the neck of one of the players. Nevertheless, it is fun to recreate these scenes in your mind just seconds before the tragedy took place. (Photo by Sandro Giordano)

This fascinating photo series looks at the bleak isolation of Chernobyl as never before. Employing infrared filters, photographer Vladimir Mitgutin is able to bring out details of decay – an abandoned bus, a radar system, an amusement park, a doll, a sports hall, a piano – frozen in time. Here: Simon – a friendly fox, who often approaches tourists in the exclusion zone, asking for food. (Photo by Vladimir Mitgutin/Caters News Agency)

For more than 2,000 years, women from the Baiga tribe in the highland district of Dindori, in central India’s Madhya Pradesh state, have been tattooed. Sumintra, 25, from Bona village, has the markings across her forehead, legs and arms. The women who work as tattoo artists are knowledgable about the different types of designs and pigments preferred by various tribes, and their meanings are passed to them by their mothers. The tattooing ‘season’ begins with the approach of winter. (Photo by Ronny Sen/WaterAid/The Guardian)

These images capture the intricate details of minuscule snowflakes, moments before they melt. The shots were taken by Don Komarechka, 31, who has had a lifelong fascination with all things macro – especially snowflakes. The professional photographer says people often don’t believe that his pictures are real because they’re so perfect. (Photo by Don Komarechka/Caters News Agency)

Michael Massaia's photographs are as nostalgic as they are disturbing. His long-exposure images capture a subject matter familiar to most. From a SpongeBob SquarePants popsicle to a Neapolitan ice cream sandwich, he frames the frozen treats most people's summer memories are made of. Yet, Massaia doesn't just realistically render his ice cream. He distorts the childhood favorites by melting them before his lens, until the pops resemble ominous pools of paint or celestial snapshots.

A busy rush hour sees thousands of commuters climbing on board a train – as well as holding onto its sides and sitting on the roof before it speeds off. Men, women and children climb and are pulled up onto the roof of the train, which is around 12ft (3.6m) high, as they try to find themselves a space. With no seats available inside, many commuters decide to take the risk and choose a rooftop view for their journey out of Dhaka city, in Bangladesh. (Photo by Yousuf Tushar/Solent News & Photo Agency)

A woman dressed in a dirndl, a kind of traditional Bavarian clothing, jumps into Lake Schlier on July 30, 2006 in Schliersee, Germany. The event called "Dirndlfliegen" ("Dirndl Flying") was sponsored by a local fashion store and a big Austrian Dirndl manufacturer. While these kind of events had been held in Austria before, this was the first of its kind in Germany. 29 women and one man wearing a wig participated in the event that held a new Dirndl as the grand prize. (Photo by Andreas Leder/Getty Images)

In this photo taken October 16, 2012 and provided by Oracle Team USA, crew members of the capsized Oracle Team USA AC72 boat are rescued after being swept past the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The America's Cup champion syndicate is assessing the damage to its 72-foot catamaran, after it capsized and was swept by a strong current more than four miles past the Golden Gate Bridge before rescue boats could control it. (Photo by Guilain Grenier/Oracle Team USA/Associated Press)