There are many types of collections. Some are formed by purposefully collecting certain objects, such as stamps or coins. However, some collections are only a byproduct of an obsession, a quirk of mind. For example, Paul Brockmann got into the habit of buying his girlfriend and later his wife a dress every time they went ballroom dancing. It might seem excessive to some, but it was his way of showing his affection. Overtime, this collection grew to be enormous, counting 55,000 dresses in total. Basic math tells us that either they went ballroom dancing three times per day for every day of their lives, or he bought them in huge bundles every time.

School children celebrate after being rewarded for their dance performance during India's Independence Day celebrations in Chandigarh, India, August 15, 2015. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's independence day speech focused on measures his “Team India” had rolled out to include millions of poor Indians in the banking and insurance systems, policies for workers and farmers and successes in the fights against inflation and corruption. (Photo by Ajay Verma/Reuters)

Stanislav Fursov (top) and Ekaterina Simonova from Russia, who are representing the city of Moscow, dance during the Stage style final round at the Tango World Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 27, 2015. (Photo by Marcos Brindicci/Reuters)

A photo taken on July 22, 2017 shows beach- goers dancing at the West Sea Barrage beach outside the coastal city of Nampo, southwest of Pyongyang. The West Sea Barrage beach features as a stopping point for foreign tourists, and is a destination for North Korean work groups from the neighbouring area. The beach lies at the end of an eight- kilometre- long barrage that separates the sea from the Taedong River, which runs through Pyongyang. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)

A festival goer spins a light strip as she dances to electronic music in front of the Belleville stage during the 45th edition of the Paleo Festival, in Nyon, Switzerland, 24 July 2022. The Paleo is the largest open-air music festival in the western part of Switzerland. (Photo by Valentin Flauraud/EPA/EFE)

Pixie Howitt,left, Jada-Jo Branney and Darcey McKechnie, pupils at the Dance School of Scotland, pose alongside works in the exhibition Discovering Degas: Collecting in the Time of Sir William Burrell, in Glasgow on September 3, 2024. (Photo by Wattie Cheung/The Times)

Some of the best entries so far in the 2016 Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. There are two weeks left to enter, and the winners will be announced in September. Here: Aurora over Laksvatn Fjord, Laksvatn, Norway. The aurora borealis dances in the skies over the town of Laksvatn, with the Milky Way to the left. The image is a single shot with no compositing, only post-processing to bring out the aurora, and some colour corrections. The photographer Matt Walford said: “I love the way the northern lights look like they are just wistfully dancing over the fjord, framed by the mountains on either side”. (Photo by Matt Walford/National Maritime Museum)

Masked dancers perform a ritualistic dance at Kathmandu Durbar Square during the procession of erecting a sacred pole locally called “Ya: Shi”, marking the formal start of Indra Jatra dedicated to rain god Indra in Kathmandu, Nepal, on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Subaas Shrestha/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)