Elena Chernyshova's vision of Norilsk, Russia, the northernmost city in the world, is a series of surprises by which she extracts otherworldly beauty from ugly realities. Here: 2013. A woman is visible through a narrow passageway between two buildings. Norilsk's urban spaces were designed to shorten distances around large developments and give residents maximum protection from arctic winds. (Photo by Elena Chernyshova)

Aerial view of Skanderbeg Square in Tirana, lit with Christmas decorations and surrounded by an open Christmas market on December 29, 2021. (Photo by Gent Shkullaku/AFP Photo)

This photo taken on December 2, 2023 shows pandas eating inside their enclosure at a zoo in China's southwestern Chongqing municipality. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)

A woman wearing a costume takes selfies while waiting for a photo shooting session in front of the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China on January 5, 2024. (Photo by Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

“Cyber Monsoon”, honorable mention in Places category. A torrential monsoon rain in Bhaktapur, Nepal. (© Anuar Patjane)

Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano, is seen from the side of a road as it spews lava during an eruption in the early hours of Thursday, March 16, 2017. Sicily's Mount Etna volcano unleashed an explosion Thursday, hurling molten rocks and steam that rained down on tourists, journalists and a scientist who scrambled to escape the barrage. Ten people were reported injured. (Photo by Salvatore Allegra/AP Photo)

Olga Conover of Palm Bay, Fla., walks down the bridge at sunset carrying her merged American-Ukraine flag near the end of a march marking the one-year anniversary of Russia invading Ukraine, late Thursday afternoon, February 23, 2022, in Melbourne, Fla. A small but passionate group of Ukraine supporters took the Melbourne Causeway to show their support, organized by the Ukrainian Space Coast group. (Photo by Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP Photo)

A long exposure image shows star trails from the abandoned submerged orthodox church of St. Nicholas without roof, submerged in the Mavrovo Lake, near Mavrovi Anovi, North Macedonia, 17 March 2019. Constructed in 1850 and submerged in 1952 due to the construction of the hydro system Mavrovo, the church St. Nicholas continues to attract the attention of almost every visitor as it peaks from the water. (Photo by Georgi Licovski/EPA/EFE)