Nine years ago, Tom Carter traveled from San Francisco to China, responding to a job posting that turned out to be a scam. He managed to find another job as a teacher, and saved enough money to embark on a 56,000 km trip through all of China's 33 provinces that lasted two years. Carrying a camera – just a a 4-megapixel point-and-shoot – Carter captured some amazing images of the widely varying landscape, people, and architecture across the nation. Photo: Buddhist pilgrim family from Sichuan. (Photo by Tom Carter via The Atlantic)

Fishermen are seen near thousands of fish found dead at Lake Maninjau due to lack of oxygen levels at the bottom of the lake and bad weather that hit the area in Agam, West Sumatra Province, Indonesia on April 29, 2021. (Photo by Muhammad Arif Pribadi/Antara Foto via Reuters)

People smeared with colors play Holi at Nandagram temple in Nandgoan village, 115 kilometers (70 miles) south of New Delhi, India, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. (Photo by Deepanshu Aggarwal/AP Photo)

A visitor poses next to Chinese charms and ornaments that are seen on display for sale at a shop in the Chinatown district of Manila on February 7, 2024, ahead of the Lunar New Year of the Dragon which falls on February 10. (Photo by Ted Aljibe/AFP Photo)

A reveler playfully sticks out her tongue during a street pre-carnival party by the “Cordao do Boitata” Block, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, February 12, 2023. Revelers are taking to the streets for the open-air block parties, leading up to Carnival's official Feb. 17th opening. (Photo by Bruna Prado/AP Photo)

Kiritimati is a far-flung outpost of the Republic of Kiribati. The world's largest coral atoll, Kiritimati has just one flight a week to either Fiji or Hawaii, four-and-a-half hours in either direction. Tarawa, the capital of Kiribati lies nearly 3,300 km (2,000 miles) to the west – about three weeks by boat. No lawyers are based on Kiritimati and the High Court only comes once or twice a year to clear a backlog of the most serious cases, bringing a public lawyer for defendants who can't afford their own. (Photo by Lincoln Feast/Reuters)

Nine-year-old Barry Miller appears none too impressed with the movements of an African Rock Python which is exploring his scalp. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). 27th August 1961

A mahout rides an elephant among the traffic down a street in Piliyandala, a suburb of Sri Lanka's capital Colombo on September 27, 2020. (Photo by Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP Photo)