Visitors look at the work titled “In Bed”, 2005 by Australian-born artist Ron Mueck at Triennale di Milano on January 09, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Giuseppe Cottini/Getty Images)

The 8th annual Miss International Queen beauty pageant was held in Pattaya in Thailand. The twenty-one contestants from fifteen countries were all born male, so the Miss International Queen 2012 pageant is not an average beauty pageant.

Photo: Panvilas Mongkol, a contestant from Thailand, waits for the start of the final night of Miss International Queen 2012 transgender/transsexual beauty pageant in Pattaya November 2, 2012. Some 21 contestants from 15 countries, all of them born male, compete in the week-long event for the crown of Miss International Queen 2012. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

This picture taken on February 16, 2017 in Fangshan village in China's coastal province Fujians, shows a villager performing the “eating flowers” ritual. Villagers in eastern China have a unique way of washing away the taint of evil spirits – by bathing in a shower of scorching sparks. (Photo by Johannes Eisele/AFP Photo)

Second Place Winner: “Thunderstorm at False Kiva”. I hiked out to these ruins at night hoping to photograph them with the Milky Way, but instead a thunderstorm rolled through, creating this dramatic image. – Max Seigal. National Geographic Traveler Director of Photography Dan Westergren, one of this year's judges, shares his thoughts on the second place winner: “This photo combines two different scenes into one: the small kiva in a cliff dwelling and the grand vista of Canyonlands National Park across the valley. I really like the two different color palettes – warm inside and purple outside. This two-for-one scene was caused by the lightning storm outside the dwelling, which lit up the landscape like it was a huge electronic flash. Looking at this picture I can imagine what a wonderful sight it must have been for the ancient people who lived here. It doesn't seem too amazing now in our modern world, but might have been mind-blowing for the prehistoric residents”. Location: Utah. (Photo and caption by Max Seigal/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

Chinese woman Duo Zirong feeds stray cats at her home February 14, 2006 in Shanghai, China. Duo Zirong, a Daur ethnic minority group woman from Inner Mongolia and reported as the “Cat Woman”, has housed about 300 cats with her Shanghainese husband Liu Junluo and mother-in-law. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

Sofia Valenzuela poses during a photo session for her quinceanera (coming of age of 15-year-olds) celebration amid coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread concerns, in Havana, Cuba, July 17, 2020. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

Visitors watch as Grigory Broverman, a member of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, pours a bucket of cold water over his 6-year-old daughter Liza during a flash mob, part of a celebration of Polar Bear Day at the Royev Ruchey Zoo in a suburb of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, November 29, 2015. The air temperature was around minus 5 degrees Celsius. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

This picture taken on February 1, 2015 shows participants competing in a tofu (beancurd) wrestling competition in Fogang county, south China's Guangdong province. Participants, mostly women, fight it out in an inflatable pool which is filled with nearly two tons of fresh milk and tofu, in a promotion to attract tourists for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. The upcoming Chinese lunar new year of the sheep, which will fall on February 19 this year, marks the biggest festival of the year in China as hundreds of millions of people journey across the country to celebrate the season with their families. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)