Nature – first prize, stories. Pandemic Pigeons – A Love Story. The photographer’s daughter, Merel, cowers after Dollie flies past and perches on the balcony before entering the house in Vlaardingen in the Netherlands on 6 April 2020. “She’s still frightened when Dollie suddenly lands on the balcony railing. I hide my smile behind the camera, as I try to comfort her by saying they won’t hurt you. “I thought he was going to attack me”, she replies. As the nesting pigeons keep coming back to our place, slowly my girls have started to appreciate them – perhaps not as much as I do, but it’s a start”. (Photo by Jasper Doest/World Press Photo 2021)

A girl plays kayagum, stringed Korean harp, at the Tongmun kindergarten No.1 in Taedonggang District of Pyongyang, North Korea Tuesday, May 16, 2023. (Photo by Cha Song Ho/AP Photo)

Protesters march during a demonstration, Tuesday, October 18, 2022 in Marseille, southern France. France is in the grip of transport strikes and protests for salary raise on Tuesday that threaten to dovetail with days of wage strikes that have already hobbled fuel refineries and depots, sparking chronic gasoline shortages around the country. (Photo by Daniel Cole/AP Photo)

A pigeon rests on a wild iguana in a tree inside Seminario Park in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Thursday, April 3, 2014. Pigeons coexist with the wild iguanas at this park in the middle of the city surrounded by savannah. (Photo by Dolores Ochoa/AP Photo)

Common seals are reintroduced to the wild on the beach of the island Juist, Germany, 28 July 2014. It is the first reintroduction to the wild drive of the seal breading station Norddeich this year. (Photo by Carmen Jaspersen/EPA)

Performer Zhang Yashu from a Chinese ballet company perform during a photo shoot in front of the Australia's iconic landmarks Opera House (L) and Habour Bridge in Sydney on February 17, 2014. One of China's celebrated dance campanies is bringing one of the country's biggest ballet production to Australia for a series of performances in Sydney and Melbourne. (Photo by Saeed Khan/AFP Photo)

A P-51 Mustang named “Charlotte's Chariot” from the Southern Heritage Air Foundation flies past a cloud of smoke and fire from a nearby battle reenactment during the Wings Over Houston Airshow in Houston, on Saturday, November 1, 2014. Battle reenactments are part of the yearly show held at Ellington Airport. (Photo by Kar Hlava/AP Photo/Bay Area Citizen)

A participant prepares for the Red Bull Air Race World Championships in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on February 6, 2017. (Photo by Red Bull Content Pool/SIPA Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)