French model Tiffany Fournier poses for a digital presentation as part of the spring/summer 2021 collections for the Polish fashion house La Metamorphose, in Paris, France, September 26, 2020. (Photo by Charles Platiau/Reuters)

Merit Prize Winner: “A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara”. This photo of Moussa Macher, our Tuareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top. It only took ten minutes of rolling, running, and jumping to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park World Heritage area, famous for its red sand and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder. Photo location: Summit of Tin-Merzouga, Tadrat, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Algeria. (Photo and caption by Evan Cole/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Capturing the true essence of Christmas, Lapland is the perfect place to take your family for the holiday period. Situated in the arctic regions of northern Sweden, Finland and Norway, there are a villages in each country around where you can enjoy the full festive experience.

A sun bear reacts to triple-digit temperatures at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska, where the temperature reached 103 degrees Fahrenheit on July 6, 2012. (Photo by Nati Harnik/Associated Press)

UK-based digital artist Dan Lester combines photography and illustration into clever and intriguing images that really make you question what you're looking at. Is it a photograph or a drawing? In actuality, it's both. The digital illustrator manages to bewilder his audience by merging the roles of model and artist into one entity in an innovative fashion. (Photo by Dan Lester)

Visitors to a mall grasp at air as they try out an augmented reality experience of a digital art gala in Beijing, Tuesday, May 2, 2023. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

Cosplayers at China Joy 2023, the city’s Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference in Shanghai, China on July 30, 2023. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A kingfisher dives into the leafy water of the River Alde near Rendham, Suffolk in the second decade of November 2022 and catches two fish. Kingfishers must be able to see the fish they want to catch before making their dive, so for this bird to be successful when leaves covered the surface of the water shows its true skill for survival. (Photo by Ivor Ottley/Animal News Agency)