Shortlisted: Pooyan Shadpoor, Houcheraghi. While walking along the shore of Larak, Iran – an island in the Persian Gulf – Shadpoor came across this luminous scene. The “magical lights of (the) plankton ... enchanted me so that I snapped the shot”, he writes. (Photo by Pooyan Shadpoor/2016 EPOTY)
An Afghan girl makes a pile of unbaked bricks near the road passing through the Shamali Plains, about 10 kilometers (6 miles), west of Bagram, Afghanistan, Wednesay April 9, 2003. Children assist parents in their job to supplement family income. (Photo by Gurinder Osan/AP Photo)
A traditional Russian nesting doll painted with the likeness of President of Donald Trump and his family is displayed for sale at a Moscow store on March 5, 2017 in Moscow, Russia. Relations between the United States and Russia are at their lowest point in years as evidence mounts about the complex relationship between President Donald Trump's administration and the Russian government. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
A member of the Army Service Corps “Tornadoes” of the Indian Army participates in a full dress rehearsal to celebrate India's Republic Day on January 24, 2024 in Bengaluru, India. India celebrates its Republic Day on January 26. (Photo by Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images)
Personnel from Maharashtra Home Guards, a volunteer force practice yoga near the Gateway of India monument as they mark International Yoga Day in Mumbai, India, Friday, June 21, 2024. (Photo by Rajanish Kakade/AP Photo)
A girl watches as a man jumps to cool off at a swimming pool in the village of Zllakuqan near the town of Klina on July 9, 2024. (Photo by Armend Nimani/AFP Photo)
Aerial view of people circling around bonfires to celebrate the Torch Festival on Axilixi Prairie on July 20, 2024 in Bijie, Guizhou Province of China. (Photo by Luo Dafu/VCG via Getty Images)