In 1949, LIFE magazine sent famed photographer Nina Leen to document the daily life of a sassy troupe of young women who had run off and joined the famous Barnum & Bailey Circus in Sarasota, Fla. What developed was a portrait of a sisterhood formed over acrobatics that mixed high-flying wire acts with fashionable high-waisted shorts. Sarasota was once considered “the home of the American circus”. Here: an aerialist smoking while rehearsing for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Sarasota, FL in 1949. (Photo By Nina Leen/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Meet the real beach babes: the herd of pigs that live a life of luxury paddling in the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas, on August 28, 2013. (Photo by Caters News)

In his series of untitled photographs Nobody Claps Anymore, the Mexican-American photographer Alec Dawson portrays ordinary people in their homes in a downbeat, ultra-stylised manner. Staring into space as they watch TV or water the garden, the real-life subjects of photographer hint at vast reserves of boredom and regret. (Photo by Alec Dawson)

David Martinez, a divemaster and shark feeder, risks life and limb when he hand feeds tiger sharks at Tiger Beach in the Bahamas in December 2022. (Photo by Caters News Agency)

A participant in wingsuit flies above Tianmen Mountain at Zhangjiajie Scenic Spot during the 4th Red Bull WWL China Grand Prix on October 16, 2015 in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province of China. The 4th Red Bull WWL China Grand Prix will last three days from October 16-18 in Zhangjiajie. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)

Giant panda Shuixiu's two babies are pictured at their room in Shenshuping base of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda on November 3, 2021 in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province of China. (Photo by An Yuan/China News Service via Getty Images)

A screen shows what Mexican journalist Jaime Maussan claims are extraterrestrial life forms at the Chamber of Deputies in Mexico City, Tuesday, November 7, 2023. Mexican legislators held another hearing dedicated to the potential for extraterrestrial life forms and UFOs following a controversial spectacle in September in which Maussan displayed what he said were “non-human beings that are not part of our terrestrial evolution”. (Photo by Marco Ugarte/AP Photo)

Girls in floral crowns jump across the bonfire while holding hands during the Kupala Night celebration at the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life in Pyrohiv, Kyiv, capital of Ukraine. (Photo by Ukrinform/Rex Features/Shutterstock)