Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan hits a return against Lin Hsiang-Ti of Taiwan in their women's singles quarter-final match during the Hong Kong Open badminton tournament in Hong Kong on September 12, 2025. (Photo by Peter Parks/AFP Photo)

Participants react as they try to reach the top of a greased pole to collect the prizes, during a “Panjat Pinang” competition, that is held to celebrate Indonesia's 79th Independence Day at Ancol in Jakarta, Indonesia, on August 17, 2024. (Photo by Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Reuters)

Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren raises his trophy in celebration on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina Circuit on December 7, 2025 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jayce Illman/Getty Images)

A protester attends a rally against the government and to show support for the hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel on September 1, 2024. (Photo by Florion Goga/Reuters)

A group of young men use a selfie stick to take a picture of themselves in shallow waters known as the first cataract of the River Nile outside Khartoum, Sudan, May 22, 2015. In Sudan, which faces insurgences in the western region of Darfur and along its border with breakaway South Sudan, as well as double-digit inflation and high unemployment, life goes on for young people in the capital Khartoum. (Photo by Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters)

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)

North Korean children wave to people on a Chinese tourist boat on the banks of Yalu River near the Chongsong county of North Korea, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, May 8, 2011. (Photo by Jacky Chen/Reuters)

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)