Photographer Mihaela Noroc travelled the world from Ethiopia to the US and from Guatemala to France in search of natural and authentic beauty. She introduces some of the inspiring women she met on her journey. Here: Ecuador. “More and more tribes of Amazonia are starting to adopt modern clothes for everyday life. But they are still keeping their traditional clothes for important events. I photographed this young woman in her wedding outfit”. (Photo by Mihaela Noroc/The Guardian)

An Indian Sikh Nihang (a traditional Sikh religious warrior) Baba 'Avtar' Singh wears an oversized giant traditional turban as he pay respects at the Golden temple in Amritsar on November 10, 2015 on the eve of the Indian festival of Diwali, the festival of lights. There will be no spectacular show of light and fireworks this Diwali at the Golden Temple as the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has decided not to celebrate the festival in the wake of series of incidents of alleged desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh holy book). (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

Residents move the wreckage of cars that were swept away by flood in Bekasi, West Java, Indonesia, Friday, January 3, 2020. Severe flooding in greater Jakarta has killed scores of people and displaced tens of thousands others, the country's disaster management agency said. (Photo by Achmad Ibrahim/AP Photo)

Documentary photographer William E. Crawford was one of the first Western photographers to gain access to North Vietnam after the war ended. He has photographed the capital, Hanoi, at regular intervals since 1985, concentrating on the colonial and indigenous architecture, urban details, landscapes and intimate portraits of people in their home settings, street scenes and the city’s surrounding countryside. Here: 54 Hàng Ga (Chicken Street), 1994. (Photo by William E. Crawford from the book “Hanoi Streets 1985-2015: In the Years of Forgetting”)

Runner-up. “The heavens opened and the streets around Shibuya, Tokyo, were suddenly drenched in even more colour and movement. I was taking photos (my friend was holding the umbrella) when I noticed this woman at the crossing. I’m pleased with the futuristic feel of the image”. (Photo by Katherine Bridgestock/The Guardian)

“After an afternoon of hiking and exploring the caves of Rhossili Bay, West Glamorgan, we caught the sun breaking through the clouds”. (Photo by Megan Warren-Davis/The Guardian)

Protesters shield themselves as police beat them with sticks during a violent demonstration near the India Gate against a gang rape and brutal beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus last week, in New Delhi, India, December 23, 2012. The attack last Sunday has sparked days of protests across the country. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Associated Press)

A woman walks past a giant Pac-Man in Tokyo's Shinjuku area, Wednesday, August 12, 2015. The three-meter (about nine feet and 10 inches)-tall Pac-Man and other video game characters, made of Lego bricks, were on display to promote the upcoming movie “Pixels”. (Photo by Ken Aragaki/AP Photo)