French photographer and director Romain Laurent started making portrait-based GIFs as a way to produce work outside his commercial jobs, a spontaneous project that would encourage him to produce consistently for himself rather than clients.

A chicken seller carries his chickens on his head in the market in Peshawar, Pakistan, August 20, 2015. (Photo by Khuram Parvez/Reuters)

“A very delicate person, beneath the flamboyance”. Jasper, Ladbroke Grove, 1977. “In the 1970s, Australia was rather cut off. I’d always wanted to live abroad, so I moved to Rome and then London. I was an art historian, but started studying photography part-time. I was interested in the demi-monde culture and began mixing in all sorts of circles. Jasper was a rather wonderful character...”. (Photo by Jane England)

Members of the Colombian Military forces pray for members of the military that have lost their lives and peace in the country at the Military Engineers School in Bogota, Colombia on October 14, 2021. (Photo by Juancho Torres/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

People ride a minibus illuminated with green colorful lights at a street in preparation for celebrations of the birthday of the prophet Muhammad, in Sana'a, Yemen, 04 October 2022. Mawlid is annually celebrated by many Muslim countries on the 12th day of Rabi al-Awwal (the third month of the Islamic calendar), marking the birthday of the prophet Muhammad, which is expected to be marked on 08 October 2022. In Yemen, it is celebrated by illuminating buildings and streets with green colorful lights and decorating vehicles in green. (Photo by Yahya Arhab/EPA/EFE)

Katie Handler, veterinary technician with the New England Wildlife Center, reaches to try to capture an oil-covered goose along the Muddy River, Monday, December 9, 2024, in Brookline, Mass., as wildlife rescuers tended to dozens of birds that were soaked in oil after an apparent spill. (Photo by Charles Krupa/AP Photo)

“Locusts & Men”. Oppression, interaction, collaboration. In the life cycle of nature nothing is lost, but the coexistence of different species is sometimes difficult. In Madagascar periodically returns the archaic antagonism between man and the migratory locust, in a circle of life where the two species are looking for space and food for their survival. At the end of the day a man walks home carrying on his shoulders the heavy bag which contains the locusts captured during the day. The insects provide nutritious meals for the man and his family. Photo location: Madagascar, 2013. (Photo and caption by Michele Martinelli/National Geographic Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

“Cassowaries are large, flightless birds related to emus and (more distantly) to ostriches, rheas, and kiwis”, writes Olivia Judson in the September issue of National Geographic magazine. How large? People-size: Adult males stand well over five foot five and top 110 pounds. Females are even taller, and can weigh more than 160 pounds. Dangerous when roused, they’re shy and peaceable when left alone. But even birds this big and tough are prey to habitat loss. The dense New Guinea and Australia rain forests where they live have dwindled. Today cassowaries might number 1,500 to 2,000. And because they help shape those same forests – by moving seeds from one place to another – “if they vanish”, Judson writes, “the structure of the forest would gradually change” too. (Photo by Christian Ziegler/National Geographic)