Myanmar national award second-place winner: Kyaw Win Hlaing. “Mount Bromo is an active volcano in East Java, Indonesia. The name Bromo derives from the Javanese pronunciation of Brahma, the Hindu creator god”. (Photo by Kyaw Win Hlaing/Sony World Photography Awards 2018)

Third place: the rear leg, claw and respiratory trachea of a louse (Haematopinus suis). (Photo by Frank Reiser/Nassau Community College/Nikon Small World Photomicrography 2021)

A participant of the international World Beard and Moustache Championships poses before taking part in one of the 17 categories of beard and moustache styles competing in Antwerp, Belgium on May 18, 2019. (Photo by Yves Herman/Reuters)

Natural world and wildlife shortlist. Lop Buri in Thailand is home to hundreds of macaques, which local residents consider to be disciples of the Hindu god Hanuman. While some people love them, others fear or even hate them. Despite the inconvenience they often cause, the macaques are generally respected and considered sacred. (Photo by Joan de la Malla/Sony World Photography Awards)

Competitors perform at the World Irish Dance Championship on April 13, 2014 in London, England. The 44th World Irish Dance Championship is currently running at London's Hilton London Metropole hotel, and will host approximately 5,000 dancers competing in solo, Ceili, modern figure choreography and dance drama categories during the week long event. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

5-year-old Rina Kumari rubs her eye while cracking stones on the banks of Mahananda river in Siliguri, northeast India, March 5, 2005. Over 400 million people in India live below the internationally agreed poverty line (living on less than US $1 per day). According to estimates, several hundred thousand children work as labourers and beg on the streets in India. (Photo by Desmond Boylan/Reuters)

By making use of digital colour grading and composites, Romanian photographer Caras Ionut created these dreamy blue-themed landscapes. The work is even more impressive when you consider that Caras, who has been a mariner for the last 24 years, only picked up an interest in photography a few years ago. For more of his work, including fashion composites and semi-surrealist scapes.

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)