A reveler takes part in the 19th Gay Pride Parade at downtown Caracas, Venezuela on June 30, 2019. (Photo by Federico Parra/AFP Photo)

A cat wering glasses lies in a pet dryer at the “Pet Expo Championship” in Bangkok, Thailand on August 30, 2019. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)

Rapper Cardi B is seen in Paris, France on September 30, 2019 at Paris Fashion Week. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

Evie and Conor Enright, from Portmarnock pictured on a walk in Howth, Co. Dublin on December 30, 2022. (Photo by Damien Eagers for The Irish Times)

A Palestinian woman is assisted at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on October 30, 2023. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

“As a photographer, peregrinator and naturalist, I have been searching for the ultimate unworldly world. I've always been drawn to unusual travel destinations. For me, to lose myself in a different culture is a great way to find balance in my life...”. – Li Xinzhao. (Photo by Li Xinzhao)

Created by ceramic artist Mary O’Malley, who studied in Philadelphia and now resides in Long Island, New York, the Bottom Feeders series is particularly inspired by childhood memories and her newly familiar surroundings next to the sea. By combining the imagery of sea creatures with the elegance of tea time, O'Malley envisions a whimsical occasion worthy of such fictional characters a Davy Jones and Alice.

1st prize in the People Observed Portraits Stories category. Carla Kogelman, the Netherlands. The photo shows Hannah and Alena, two sisters living in the rural village of Merkenbrechts, Austria. (Photo by Carla Kogelman/World Press Photo)