Photographer Howard Schatz had an idea: place actors in a series of roles and dramatic situations to reveal the essence of their characters. Such was the premise behind his book, In Character: Actors Acting, which captures some of Hollywood’s most emotive stars in the act of, well, making faces. Luckily for us, he continued the tradition for Vanity Fair. Here are some of the best.

The amazing art of dancing is captured by the lens of Bertil Nilsson, who draws inspiration from movement and human body, creating a final spectacular result. The London-based photographer and filmmaker has worked closely with dancers and circus artists for five years throughout Europe and North bringing out an inspiring project, all gathered in his book Undisclosed: Images of the Contemporary Circus Artist.

Encyclopedia Britannica editions are seen at the New York Public Library on March 14, 2012 in New York City. Encyclopedia Britannica announced it will be ceasing its print edition of reference books for the first time in its 244-year history to focus solely on digital versions. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Ultra Orthodox Jews celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim on March 8, 2012 in Benei Brak, Israel. The carnival-like Purim holiday is celebrated with parades and costume parties to commemorate the deliverance of the Jewish people from a plot to exterminate them in the ancient Persian empire 2,500 years ago, as described in the Book of Esther. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

US Vogue’s top fashion editor works with photographers to inject style with sci-fi and fantasy. A new book, “Stoppers: Photographs from My Life at Vogue” by Phyllis Posnick and Vogue’s chief editor, Anna Wintour, highlights the results. Here: Surburban Woman #10, Mountainville, New York, August 2006. (Photo by Steven Klein)

Participants wearing fantasy costumes attend the 4th Hero Festival in Marseille, France on November 11, 2017. The 4th Hero Festival edition has attracted all sorts of people to role play their favourite characters from all kinds of movies and comic book legends. (Photo by Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters)

A boat, center, is surrounded by Japan Cost Guard's patrol boats after some activists descended from the boat on Uotsuri Island, one of the islands of Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, in East China Sea Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012. Regional tensions flared on the emotional anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender as activists from China and South Korea used Wednesday's occasion to press rival territorial claims, prompting 14 arrests by Japanese authorities. The 14 people had traveled by boat from Hong Kong to the disputed islands controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan. (Photo by Yomiuri Shimbun/Masataka Morita/AP Photo)