October winner. “A burst of the aurora borealis over Kirkjufell, taken in September 2016. This shot has been a holy grail for me and was finally captured after many trips”. MICK RYAN, JUDGE: Iceland is a hotspot for aurora photography and this composition of the symmetric, free-standing Kirkjufell and the trident waterfall is much-sought after. If you can time your visit when the aurora “kp” index is high and know the settings for nighttime aurora images, you may end up with a beautiful photograph like this. (Photo by DВ/The Guardian)

A man wearing a beard imprinted facemask as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus walks along a street in New Delhi on June 19, 2020. India has recorded more than 380,000 cases of COVID-19, the fourth-highest in the world, with over 12,500 deaths, health ministry data show. (Photo by Jewel Samad/AFP Photo)

A woman in a face mask dances inside the club on the opening of the summer season for “Villa delle Rose”, one of the most famous clubs on the Adriatic Coast on June 20, 2020 in Rimini, Italy. The Villa delle Rose is among the first dance clubs to reopen in the Adriatic Riviera after the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Max Cavallari/Getty Images)

Ultra-orthodox Jewish men wearing protective face masks swim in the Mediterranean Sea, on a beach segregated for males three days a week, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, July 8, 2020. In an effort to quell the rapid spread of the coronavirus, Israel has re-imposed a series of restrictions on the public. This week, the Israeli government limited gatherings and ordered reception halls, restaurants, bars, theaters, fitness centers and pools be shut down again. (Photo by Oded Balilty/AP Photo)

People protest at the Boston Free Speech Rally in Boston, USA on August 19. 2017. With the Boston Free Speech rally was closed to the media (despite the Boston Common being a public space), a lot of the media’s coverage centred on the tensions within the larger counter-protest. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Reuters)

An owl peeps out from behind a rusty piece of farming equipment in Teddesley Park, Staffordshire, UK in the last decade of July 2025. (Photo by David Akers/Solent News & Photo Agency)

Joseph's Amazing Racing Pigs entertain the crowds at the Gillingham And Shaftesbury Spring Countryside Show, on June 09, 2024 in Shaftesbury, England. The countryside show celebrates Dorset's rural life, traditions and culture. Initially set to be the first countryside show of Dorset's rural calendar but now featuring near the end of Spring after a postponement due to a waterlogged showground. (Photo by Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)

Invasion (laser girls) 2017. “I’m always thinking about my art practice, so any experience I have may spike a visual when I have an idea in mind. An example is that, when I was thinking about the Invasion series, I was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s movie The Birds (1963). I love Hitchcock’s other movies and have been contemplating a series based on Rear Window (1954). I also find inspiration outside the cinema in music clips and magazines”. (Photo by Michael Cook/Perimeter Books)