People at a Czech Stop look at a cloud of smoke rising from the explosion in West, Texas, April 17, 2013. (Photo by Andy Bartee via Dallas Morning News/MCT)
Takehiko Yagi is a rising star in Japanese photography, and his vibrant pictures of the Hindu spring festival of Holi won the Grand Prize at the fourth annual Nikkei National Geographic Photo Prize. Diving into the Colors of Holi is his first exhibition in the US, on show at Foto Care Gallery in New York until 28 September, 2016. Here: Jaipur, India, 2013, (Photo by Takehiko Yagi/The Guardian)
Filipino mermaid swimming teacher Genevieve Reyes (C) has her tail adjusted by students during a lesson by the Philippines Mermaid Swimming Academy in a private swimming pool in Makati, Manila, Philippines, 15 June 2013. The Philippine Mermaid Swimming Academy (PMSA) was created in 2012 in Boracay by Normeth Preglo of The Philippines and US swimming instructor Djuna Rocha. The swimming lessons were brought to Manila in April 2013. The price for a two-hour class is 37 US dollars. (Photo by Dennis M. Sabangan/EPA)
A submerged statue of the Hindu Lord Shiva stands amid the flooded waters of river Ganges at Rishikesh in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand June 17, 2013. Early monsoon rains have swollen the Ganges, India's longest river, swept away houses, killed at least 60 people and left tens of thousands stranded, officials said on June 18, 2013. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)
These greenfinches go head to head in what appears to be a heroic fight or a playfull moment together, inspiration for a new version of “Angry Birds”, in Trezzo Sull'Adda, Italy in March 2013. (Photo by Marco Redaelli/IMP/AbacaPress.com)
A woman takes a photograph of a sculpture titled “Couple Under an Umbrella, 2013” by Australian sculptor Ron Mueck during a preview of his exhibition at the Pinacoteca Museum in Sao Paulo November 19, 2014. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)
A boy stands at the door of a 60-year-old cable car in the town of Chiatura, some 220 km (136 miles) northwest of Tbilisi, September 12, 2013. (Photo by David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters)
Visitors look at penguins wearing Santa Claus (in red) and Christmas tree (in green) costumes during a promotional event for Christmas at an amusement park in Yongin, south of Seoul, December 18, 2013. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)