Drastic inequality is by no means new in New York. Jacob A. Riis was called a muckraker after he chose to spotlight the city’s poverty at the turn of the 20th century by photographing it. Here: Sweatshop in Hester Street, 1889-1890. (Photo by Jacob A. Riis/Museum of the City of New York, Gift of Roger William Riis)

The Invasion. A quiet street in Macau. Modernization around is quickly changing the city, as documented by Paul Tsui. (Photo by Paul Tsui/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest)

Using clever low exposure techinques, photographer Rolf Maeder managed to capture multiple strikes hitting the canyon under atmospheric stormy skies. (Photo by Rolf Maeder)

This barking set of images takes the saying “dogs look like their owners” to the ultimate conclusion. Photographer Sebastian Magnani, 28, has cleverly spliced the features of four-legged friends with the head and shoulders of their owners. In a series called “Underdogs”, the Swiss photographer shot the owners and their respective pets in the same portrait style. Then he used expert photo-manipulation techniques to seamlessly transplant the canine faces onto the human bodies. (Photo by Sebastian Magnani)

From Britain to China to Mali, new maps showing travel times to the nearest urban centre reveal huge differences between countries. Using Open Street Map and Google, a University of Oxford team have created a visual breakdown that suggests major inequalities when it comes to commuting. Here: China. The dataset used for China was unique as it relied solely on Open Street Map, due to restrictions on accessing Google data. The population is densely concentrated in the east and accessibility is increased, whereas rural provinces in the west remain remote. (Photo by Daniel Weiss/Jennifer Rozier/Malaria Atlas Project/University of Oxford)

Planned improvements to Rio’s favelas have meant increases in rent, forcing the poorest families into squatting in unoccupied buildings. Photographer Tariq Zaidi visits the Mangueira community favela, less than 1km from the showpiece Maracanã stadium, to see what life is like for the women living there. Here: Victoria, 12, at her home in Mangueira. (Photo by Tariq Zaidi/The Guardian)

A visitor is dwared between the wheels of BelAZ 450-ton dump truck (L) and BelAZ 360-ton dump truck (R) at the plant of Belarusian manufacturer of heavy trucks and equipment for earthmoving, BelAZ, in Zhodino, some 55 km from Minsk, Belarus, 27 August 2019. The company mostly delivers its products to CIS mining companies, mainly from Russia and Ukraine. (Photo by Tatyana Zenkovich/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Sophie and Sarah, old English sheepdogs, watch the sea from their plastic chairs. Amateur photographer Cees Bol, from the Netherlands, documents the lives of his beloved pooches Sophie and Sarah by taking pictures of them every day. (Photo by Cees Bol/Caters News Agency/Mercury Press)