Young Buddhist novice monks play at a Tibetan nomadic summer grazing area on July 24, 2015 on the Tibetan Plateau in Yushu County, Qinghai, China. Tibetan nomads face many challenges to their traditional way of life including political pressures, forced resettlement by China's government, climate change and rapid modernization. The Tibetan Plateau, often called “The Roof of the World”, is the world's highest and largest plateau. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Italian pencil artist Marco Mazzoni‘s work goes far beyond technical perfection. His representation of historical healing women is enigmatic and sublime. Often leaving the eyes blank or covered with an abundance of birds, butterflies and flowers, he gives the impression of a deeper inward focused sight, as well as obscuring the identity of the individual. Many female healers in the past – both medicine woman and midwives – were brutally persecuted by religion, some even burnt as witches… Mazzoni’s work captures their deep connection with nature and their innate power and femininity with delicacy and beautiful detail.

An artist has created a homage to cultural and historical figures – by immortalising them as Star Wars characters. Mike Leavitt wanted to “document the pulse of our times” through his sculpture by splicing non-fiction characters with famous faces. He chose the sci-fi trilogy as a basis for what he calls his “pop culture satirical mash-ups”, with many of the pieces hand-carved from wood. The hilarious results include Albert Einstein as R2D2, Michael Jackson as an Ewok and Angelina Jolie in Princess Leia's famous slave girl outfit. Photo: Gandhi as Yoda. (Photo by Mike Leavitt/Rex USA)

The Kazakhs are the descendants of Turkic, Mongolic and Indo-Iranian tribes and Huns that populated the territory between Siberia and the Black Sea. They are a semi-nomadic people and have roamed the mountains and valleys of western Mongolia with their herds since the 19th century. The ancient art of eagle hunting is one of many traditions and skills that the Kazakhs have, in recent decades, been able to hold on to. They rely on their clan and herds, believing in pre-Islamic cults of the sky, the ancestors, fire and the supernatural forces of good and evil spirits.

A spiritual leader (R) of the Huni Kui Indian tribe blows an herbal powder into the nose of a tribal member during a ceremony outside the village of Novo Segredo along the Envira river of Brazil's northwestern Acre state, March 9, 2014. Many indigenous groups, including the Huni Kui, Ashaninka, and Madija, live in villages in the Brazilian rainforest near the border with Peru. (Photo by Lunae Parracho/Reuters)

An Afghan girl jumps off the wall of a small cemetery in Kandahar on July 29, 2022. (Photo by Daniel Leal/AFP Photo)