David Guttenfelder was born in Iowa and graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in cultural anthropology. He has worked for the AP since 1994 based in Kenya, the Ivory Coast, India and Japan. He is currently AP’s chief Asia photographer and his feature work has been used prominently in editorial publications throughout the world including Time and National Geographic. Photo: U.S. soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, fire mortars at known enemy firing positions from a base in the Pech River Valley in Afghanistan's Kunar province, Saturday, October 24, 2009. (Photo by David Guttenfelder/AP Photo)

A poster depicts a disinfection worker in North Korea on May 23, 2022. The COVID outbreak in the isolated country, confirmed about two weeks ago, has stoked concerns about a lack of vaccines and medical supplies, while experts said a nationwide lockdown could deepen a food crisis in the country of 25 million. (Photo by KCNA via Reuters)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits the Pavegen stand, a company that converts footsteps into energy, at the Innovation Zone during the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London, Britain on January 20, 2020. (Photo by Leon Neal/Pool via Reuters)

Cast member Ana de Armas poses during a photocall for the film “Hands of stone” out of competition at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 16, 2016. (Photo by Regis Duvignau/Reuters)

Brazil's Kathellen in action with Australia's Alanna Kennedy during the Australia vs Brazil, Group C match at the FIFA Women's World Cup at Stade La Mosson Stadium on June 13th 2019 in Montpellier, France. (Photo by Eric Gaillard/Reuters)

Revellers play with water as they celebrate the Songkran holiday, which marks the Thai New Year, in Bangkok, Thailand, on April 13, 2025. (Photo by Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters)

A Turkey-backed Syrian fighter fires a rocket-propelled grenade as he takes part in a military exercise in the countryside of the northwestern city of Afrin, in rebel-held part of Aleppo province, on May 31, 2022. (Photo by Rami al Sayed/AFP Photo)

Commended. In late May, about a quarter of a million snow geese arrive from North America to nest on Wrangel Island, in northeastern Russia. They form the world's largest breeding colony of snow geese. Photographer Sergey Gorshkov spent two months on the remote island photographing the unfolding dramas. Arctic foxes take advantage of the abundance of eggs, caching surplus eggs for leaner times. But a goose (here the gander) is easily a match for a fox, which must rely on speed and guile to steal eggs. “The battles were fairly equal”, notes Sergey, “and I only saw a fox succeed in grabbing an egg on a couple of occasions, despite many attempts”. Surprisingly, “the geese lacked any sense of community spirit”, he adds, “and never reacted when a fox harassed a neighboring pair nesting close by”. (Photo by Sergey Gorshkov/Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer)