The National Geographic Photo Ark is a travelling exhibition of photographer Joel Sartore’s quest to create a photo archive of biodiversity around the world. So far, Sartore has captured studio portraits of more than 6,000 species – a number that he hopes to double. On 1 July, the ark will open at Melbourne zoo – the first time it has been exhibited in the southern hemisphere. More than 50 portraits will be on display, including many of Australian endangered animals being protected by programs at the zoo itself. These captions have been edited from text supplied by Melbourne zoo. Here: Barking owl. (Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark/The Guardian)

Todd Bretl specializes in underwater photography, and is able to capture striking photos of aquatic life big and small. His photos of sharks are particularly striking; though he rarely faces hostility from the animals, he tries not to spend too much time looking through his viewfinder and many shots are framed by educated guesses and impeccable timing. What follows are photographs taken over the past several years on trips to the Bahamas and Isla Guadalupe, an island off the coast of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico. (Photo by Todd Bretl)

A woman reacts as she joins around a thousand New Year swimmers, many in costume, braved freezing conditions in the River Forth in front of the Forth Rail Bridge during the annual Loony Dook Swim on January 1, 2013 in South Queensferry, Scotland. Thousands of people gathered last night to see in the New Year at Hogmanay celebrations in towns and cities across Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell)

Darlene Eddy packages up a chocolate Easter bunny that she made in her store Amazing Chocolates on March 28, 2013 in Hollywood, Florida. As Easter Sunday approaches chocolatiers are busy manufacturing many different types of delights for the holiday when Americans spend roughly $1.9 billion on Easter candy, second only to Halloween in candy consumption. Around ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced each year, from white to dark chocolate, and with an unlimited varieties of styles. (Photo by Joe Raedle)

A man sits on the window of a burning building before falling from it, in central Lahore May 9, 2013. Fire erupted on the seventh floor of the LDA plaza in Lahore and quickly spread to higher floors leaving many people trapped inside the building. At least three people fell from the high floors trying to avoid fire that engulfed the building, local media reports. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

“Philippe Halsman (2 May 1906 Riga, Russian Empire – 25 June 1979 New York City) was a Latvian-born American portrait photographer. Many celebrities photographed by Halsman include Alfred Hitchcock, Judy Garland, Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe, Dorothy Dandridge, and Pablo Picasso. Many of those photographs appeared on the cover of Life. In such photos, he utilizes a variety of his rules of photography. For example, in one of his photos of Winston Churchill, the omission of his face makes Halsman's photo even more powerful at making Churchill more human”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Marilyn Monroe, “Jumpology”, 1959. Photo by Philippe Halsman

Revelers dance during the “Ceu na Terra”, or Heaven on earth, carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, February 7, 2015. Rio's over-the-top Carnival is the highlight of the year for many local residents. Hundreds of thousands of merrymakers are beginning to take to the streets in open-air “blocos” parties. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)