A competition, now in its 43rd year, dedicated to showcasing the beautiful and bizarre as seen under a light microscope attracted over 2,000 entries from 88 countries. Here: Honorable Mention by Emre Can Alagöz, Istanbul, Turkey: The eyes of a jumping spider, magnified 6x. (Photo by Emre Can Alagöz/2017 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition)

The king penguin in his moulting suit joins his waddle on their way to the water despite not being waterproof yet at Volunteer Point on the Falkland Islands, 2023. (Photo by Judy Rogero/Media Drum Images)

A stork starts from its nest in the cliffs high above the Atlantic Ocean in Cabo Sardao, Portugal, Friday, March 29, 2024. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

A pheasant is seen among grasses in Bursa, Turkiye on October 07, 2024. Pheasants mostly live in forested areas, thickets and wetlands. Unlike females, male pheasants have a much more remarkable structure with their long tails and feathers in bright and variable colors. Also, they feed on fruits, grains, seeds and invertebrates. (Photo by Alper Tuydes/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Maxime Taccardi is an artist who is most notable for his unusual method – creating his pieces using his own blood. He studied art in collage, his thesis focusing on the monstrosity and what is considered abnormal by society. Currently he is a middle school art teacher, but plans to continue furthering his creative career. His catalogue of work is varied, including painting, drawing, filmmaking and music.

Michael Pankratz’s intriguing works focus specifically on the feet of tarantulas – an appendage that many have perhaps never focused on. The extreme close-ups of tarantulas’ “paws” show fine, colourful hairs, and sharp claws. Here: Brachypelma albopilosum, foot detail. (Photo by Michael Pankratz/Caters News Agency)

Smoke rises from a house days after part of the ground it was resting on collapsed into Lake Whitney, Texas in this June 13, 2014 file photo. I was covering the controlled burn of a house slowly falling into Lake Whitney due to the decaying cliff underneath. Asked to take photos from an aerial perspective, an instructor and I took off from Grand Prairie Municipal Airport around 9am. The burn, scheduled to start an hour later, was delayed. I love flying, but patience proved challenging as circling for nearly three hours gets boring fast. Once the fire started we only had 15 minutes to take photos because the plane was booked at 1pm. The owners invested their retirement savings in the house and were even advised by geologists that the ground was stable. To watch your investment literally go up in flames must take its toll emotionally. The owners said they don't expect their insurance to cover the loss. (Photo and caption by Brandon Wade/Reuters)