A murmuration of migrating starlings is seen across the sky in southern Israel December 31, 2015. (Photo by Amir Cohen/Reuters)

“Hey! I'm Thomas Shahan, an artist and macrophotographer from Oklahoma. In my spare time over the past few years, I've been shooting portraiture of local arthropods. Why would I devote countless hours to tramping through forests, fields and the like searching for insects and spiders? Well, despite some common beliefs, arthropods (members of the phylum Arthropoda – insects, spiders, crustaceans...) represent an endlessly varied, wildly beautiful and fascinating bunch of animals with surprisingly personable faces and behavior. Often, all it takes is simply inspecting their lives on a closer level to turn repulsion to reverence”. – Thomas Shahan

Photo: Adult Male Jumping Spider at Sunset – Phidippus mystaceus. (Photo by Thomas Shahan; Source: Flickr)

An actor portraying Jesus Christ takes part in the interactive street-theatre Passion play “Il-Mixja” (The Way), one of a series of Holy Week activities in the run-up to Easter, in the grounds of Mount Carmel Mental Hospital in Attard, outside Valletta, Malta, March 22, 2016. (Photo by Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters)

Competitors make their way up Heartbreak Hill during the 2022 City to Surf on August 14, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

Iranian chess player Sara Khadem competes, without wearing a hijab, in FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan December 26, 2022, in this picture obtained by Reuters on December 27, 2022. (Photo by Lennart Ootes/FIDE/via Reuters)

Czech Republic's Jakub Mensik celebrates after winning the men's singles quarter-final match against Russia's Andrey Rublev at the ATP Qatar Open tennis tournament in Doha on February 22, 2024. (Photo by Karim Jaafar/AFP Photo)

Actors Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, fashion model Gigi Hadid and Hugh Jackman attend the premiere of “Deadpool and Wolverine” in New York City, New York, U.S., July 22, 2024. (Photo by Caitlin Ochs/Reuters)

A flock of starlings flies over Lake Leman on an autumn morning in the Lavaux near Grandvaux, Switzerland October 20, 2016. (Photo by Denis Balibouse/Reuters)