America in the 1970s: Texas. Motorcyclist loading his possessions onto a truck with the help of his friends in Leakey, May 1973. (Photo by Marc St. Gil/NARA via The Atlantic)
A drunk racegoer lays on the ground as her friend tries to wake her up during the Emirates Melbourne Cup Day held at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne Australia, on November 4, 2014. (Photo by Asanka Brendon/Rex Features)
Friends outside the convention center during opening day of the annual Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, United States July 21, 2016. (Photo by WENN/SIPA Press)
Newlyweds celebrate their wedding surrounded by friends on Red Square in Moscow on November 11, 2020, amid the ongoing coronavirus disease pandemic. (Photo by Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP Photo)
A person rides a swing hanging from a crane with hot air balloons fly in the background in Nevsehir, Turkey on October 14, 2021. Tourists and those who want to take photos set up swings on the cranes they rent and then have their photos taken in the setting created by hot air balloons in the backgrounds. (Photo by Behcet Alkan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“A huge wasp measuring 2.5 inches in length, visiting the banana tree in my front yard”. (Photo and comment by John Matzick, USA/2013 Sony World Photography Awards via The Atlantic)
“Sometimes i feel like photographers have uncovered a special secret. A crazy, amazing, and beautiful secret. The key to truly living. All i want is to be alive”. – Karrah Kobus
Photo: “All my life i lived in a bubble”. (Photo by Karrah Kobus)
Honorable Mention: “The Storm”. During I was taking photo with my nephew, the storm came and I caught this beautiful moment. Photo location: Kocaeli, Turkey. (Photo and caption by Aytül Akbaş/National Geographic Photo Contest)