Bar girls use their mobile phones outside a bar along the Walking Street where bars and sеx scenes are a commonplace July 31, 2016 in Pattaya, Thailand. Thailand's first female minister of tourism would like the sеx trade that is a huge business in the country to be banned. Tourists flock to Thailand for many sights including beautiful beaches but also for sеx tourism. Cities like Bangkok and Pattaya are well known as hubs of the Southeast Asian sеx trade, despite the fact that prostitution has been illegal in Thailand since 1960. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Clay "caganers" representing Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (2nd L), Podemos's candidate Pablo Iglesias (R), Socialist Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sanchez (2nd R) and Ciudadanos party leader Albert Rivera (L) are seen on display at the Santa Llucia Christmas market in central Barcelona, Spain, December 16, 2015. Catalans hide “caganers” or defecators, in Christmas Nativity scenes to let friends hunt for them during Christmas celebrations. The “caganers”, which symbolise defecation and fertilization of the earth, are believed to bring prosperity and luck for the coming year. (Photo by Albert Gea/Reuters)

Police officers take cover as they clash with protesters after an officer shot and killed a black man in Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota on April 11,2021. Protests broke out April 11, 2021 night after US police fatally shot a young Black man in a suburb of Minneapolis – where a former police officer is currently on trial for the murder of George Floyd. Hundreds of people gathered outside the police station in Brooklyn Center, northwest of Minneapolis. Police fired teargas and flash bangs at the demonstrators, according to an AFP videojournalist at the scene. (Photo by Kerem Yucel/AFP Photo)

“Artist of the light”. While shooting sunrise in the Vermilion lakes area of Banff national park, Canada, I met a fellow photographer on the scene. Most of the time, we tried not to get in each other's way, however, just by accident, I snapped a picture with him in it working on his tripod settings, and it turned out to be a great photo compared to my sunrise shots. (Photo and caption by Victor Liu/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

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A bar girl shows off her sexual desires along the Walking Street where bars and sеx scenes are a commonplace July 31, 2016 in Pattaya, Thailand. Thailand's first female minister of tourism would like the sеx trade that is a huge business in the country to be banned. Tourists flock to Thailand for many sights including beautiful beaches but also for sеx tourism. Cities like Bangkok and Pattaya are well known as hubs of the Southeast Asian sеx trade, despite the fact that prostitution has been illegal in Thailand since 1960. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Passengers hold 500 (bottom) rupee banknotes to buy train tickets at a railway booking counter in Allahabad, India, November 9, 2016. People are queuing up outside banks across India to exchange 500 and 1,000 rupee notes after they were withdrawn as part of anti-corruption measures. Indians will be able to exchange their old notes, which stopped being legal tender at midnight on Tuesday, for new ones at banks until 30 December. The surprise move is part of a government crackdown on corruption and illegal cash holdings. Banks were shut on Wednesday to allow them enough time to stock new notes. There are also limits on cash withdrawals from ATMs. The BBC's Yogita Limaye in Mumbai says there have been chaotic scenes outside many banks. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

A protester throws a stone towards a burning police bus in front of him, during clashes with police, in central Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, January 19, 2014. Hundreds of protesters on Sunday clashed with riot police in the center of the Ukrainian capital, after the passage of harsh anti-protest legislation last week seen as part of attempts to quash anti-government demonstrations. The violent scenes further escalated this ex-Soviet republic's political crisis and showed a rift among opposition leaders, one of whom fought bravely to stop the violence, while others condemned the events from afar. (Photo by Evgeny Feldman/AP 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)