Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)
Artists watch burning an effigy of Lady Maslenitsa as they celebrate Maslenitsa, or Pancake Week, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, March 13, 2016. Maslenitsa is widely viewed as a pagan holiday marking the end of winter and is celebrated with pancake eating and shows of strength, while the Orthodox Church considers it as the week of feasting before Lent. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)
When Colin Garratt went to photograph the traditional sentinels of the British countryside, he found they ranged from the dapper to the downright sinister. “They are not from the anaesthetised world of the craft fair”, says Colin Garratt, “but are the direct descendants of the ancient spectres which have haunted the landscape for centuries”. The Scarecrow Exhibition is at Geddes Gallery, London, from 25 to 30 March. (Photo by Colin Garratt)
Vehicles and weapons of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels are seen on display, after victory celebrations by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in Niyala Capital of South Darfur, May 4, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)
Photographer Pol Kurucz’s vivid collection of photos explores issues faced by black Brazilian women, from political misrepresentation to unrealistic beauty standards. Kolor Collective is a Rio de Janeiro-based creative group that challenges the struggle faced by black women in Brazil through theatrical and provocative art. It was founded in 2015 by Franco-Hungarian photographer Pol Kurucz, who often touches on his own experiences of discrimination to call out sensitive social problems. (Photo by Kolor Art Collective/The Guardian)
An aerial view taken with a drone shows the autumnally colored Fuerst-Pueckler-Park near Cottbus, eastern Germany, Saturday, October 29, 2016. The park, composed with great sensitivity in the 19th century by Prince Hermann von Pueckler-Muskau, is considered as one of the last great German landscape gardens. (Photo by Patrick Pleul/DPA via AP Photo)