Pangolins in Crisis: Brent Stirton, South Africa; 1st place, Natural world and wildlife. “Pangolins are the world’s most illegally trafficked mammals, with an estimated one million trafficked to Asia in the last 10 years. Their scales are used in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine, and their meat is sold as a high-priced delicacy. As a result, pangolins are listed as critically endangered and anyone who trades or consumes them is breaking the law. This body of work exposes the trade, while exploring aspects of illegality and celebrating the people who are trying to save these animals”. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Sony World Photography Awards 2020)

“People of the River”. This is a Karo tribe family; father, mother, two sisters and two brothers. The tribe, who live along the Omo River in east Africa, incorporate rich symbolism into their rituals by using ornate body art, headdresses and body scarification to express beauty and significance. (Photo by Jatenipat Ketpradit/International Portrait Photographer of the Year)

A Highland Cow at sunset on the edge of the Marlborough Downs, Wiltshire, United Kingdom on October 18, 2020. (Photo by David White/PictureExclusive)

Heimana Reynolds of USA in action during a training session prior to the World Skate Park World Championships at the Parque Candido Portin​ari in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 11 September 2019. (Photo by Sebastião Moreira/EPA/EFE)

“Derby”, Kentucky Gallahue's goldendoodle, of Point Loma, sporting a mohawk haircut and sunglasses, leaps off the surfboard during the 2018 Imperial Beach Surf Dog Competition next to the Imperial Beach Pier in San Diego, California on July 28, 2018. (Photo by Howard Lipin/San Diego Union-Tribune via ZUMA Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Shortlisted: The Life: A narrow strip, Río Tinto, Huelva, Spain. A narrow strip of road divides ochre-coloured and fresh waters. Trees wait on the fresh side of the road opposite the toxic waters of a nearby mine reservoir. (Photo by Roberto Bueno/CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year 2021)

American actress Kiernan Shipka poses with “May flowers” in Venice, Italy in the last decade of May 2022. (Photo by kiernanshipka/Instagram)

A gosling sits in the plumage of its mother, in a meadow in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, April 13, 2024. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)