Tennis star Maria Sharapova poses with a Porsche 911 RSR race car at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S November 16, 2016. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

A car drives past burning trees as a wildfire rages in the northern city of Haifa, Israel November 24, 2016. Hundreds of Israelis fled their homes on the outskirts of the country's third city Haifa with others trapped inside as firefighters struggled to control raging bushfires, officials said. (Photo by Gil Eliyahu/Reuters)

A Palestinian man rides a donkey-drawn cart transporting an old car to a scrap yard, in Gaza City on March 15, 2020. (Photo by Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

A Mercedes-Benz car is pictured in a production line at the plant of German carmaker Mercedes-Benz in Bremen, Germany January 24, 2017. (Photo by Fabian Bimmer/Reuters)

Palestinians fleeing Khan Yunis arrive in Rafah with their belongings in a damaged car on February 15, 2024, as battles raged in the sourthern Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP Photo)

A spectator takes a selfie during the 2024 World Rally Car championship in Concepción, Chile on September 28, 2024. (Photo by Nikos Katikis/DPPI/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

I was born in Calella (Barcelona) in 1956, and nowadays I live in Vilassar de Mar (Barcelona). Since I was a child I have been fascinated by painting and I think I'm a self-taught painter because, despite I was taught drawing at Primary School, I have acquired my knowledge thanks to my environment. Painting is my own way to express myself. I can shape my inward in the canvas with the essential help of the palette knife and the colours. As a nature’s lover and great observant, my environment has always been my source of inspiration. At present I devote myself exclusively to painting, my true passion, and that is why I feel extremely fortunate.

These breath-taking photographs reveal the everyday lives of animals living in the wild. The incredible images were taken by wildlife photographer Wim van dan Heever, from Pretoria, South Africa, during trips to locations including Japan, Botswana and Svalbard. The 43-year-old has been photographing wildlife since he was a young boy and turned his passion for animals into a career and set up ODP Safaris. He has travelled across the globe to photograph wild animals – from lions and tigers, to elephants, dolphins and eagles – as they hunt, give birth and graze in their natural habitats. Here: Lions submerged in water. (Photo by Wim van den Heever/Caters News)