Special Merit Award. Mallory Franklin (2019). The British slalom canoeist has competed internationally since 2009 and won nine medals in total at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with four golds, four silvers and a bronze. She has also won eleven medals at the European Championships. (Photo by Richard Pelham/World Sports Photography Awards 2021)

Gray whale feeding at the surface and showing it's baleen. (Photo by Christopher Swann/Biosphoto)

Beautiful red sunset sky over Edinburgh, Scotland. Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and a popular tourist destination. It is also a major European financial (fund management) centre. Prominent buildings from left to right are: Edinburgh Castle, The Balmoral Hotel Clock Tower and The Scott Monument. (Photo by John Lawson/Getty Images)

Three young women in their 20s brawling on a busy street on the route from the track to the town centre during day four of the William Hill St Leger Festival at Doncaster Racecourse, England on September 14, 2019. (Photo by Nb press ltd)

The Turkish merchant ship Efe Murat is driven aground in strong winds in Bari, Italy on February 25, 2019. (Photo by De Giglio/Fotogramma/Ropi/ROPI via ZUMA Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A vehicle leaves light trails in a long exposure photograph as it drives beneath the 500-metre Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope in Pingtang county, China. Construction on the device began in 2011 and is nearing completion. (Photo by Liu Xu/AP Photo)

Indian artist Sudarsan Pattnaik works on a sand sculpture depicting drowned Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi at Puri beach, some 65 kilometers away from Bhubaneswar, on September 4, 2015. Charities helping refugees saw a surge in donations on September 4 across Europe as people shocked by the heart-rending images of a drowned Syrian boy on a Turkish beach dug deep to help out. The photos of the lifeless body of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, lying on a beach in Bodrum, Turkey, have triggered a wave of emotion across the continent, despite deep divisions among European governments on how to deal with the crisis. (Photo by Asit Kumar/AFP Photo)

Extraordinary tales of everyday heroism have been illustrated beautifully by renowned US photographer Steve McCurry in the new 2015 Lavazza Calendar. The calendar which has been created in collaboration with the Slow Food movement, features twelve breathtaking pictures, capturing the spirit, strength and humanity of the Earth Defenders – women and men who protect their land and projects in Africa with passion and bravery. The proceeds from sales of the calendar and all donations will be contributed entirely to create 10,000 food gardens in African schools and villages by the end of 2016. (Photo by Steve McCurry/2015 Lavazza Calendar)