Kourtney Roy makes eerie self-portraits in desolate yet dramatic locations – with wigs and wardrobe straight out of 1950s melodrama. In these shots, from her “Enter as Fiction – California” series, she plays characters caught in desolate, often abandoned settings. (Photo by Kourtney Roy/Galerie Catherine et André Hug/The Guardian)

Pamukkale, Turkey, is home to these terrace pools, formed by the build-up of carbonate mineral from the warm water flowing from the thermal springs above. (Photo by Image Courtesy of Jennifer Hayes/Getty Images)

Wildlife photographer Danté Fenolio has headed into areas untouched by sunlight – deep seas, caves and underground – and found creatures that are exploding with colour. Here: The golden harlequin toad has vanished from the wild, and only a small number live on in captivity. A fungus caused them, and many other amphibians, to die out in their home in Central America. (Photo by Danté Fenolio/The Guardian/Johns Hopkins University Press)

Soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) jump as part of their winter training in temperature of negative 26 degrees Celsius at China's border with Russia in Heihe, Heilongjiang province, December 14, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A young Balinese man tries to kiss a woman during the Kissing Festival known as “Omed-Omedan” at Sesetan village on April 1, 2014 in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. (Photo by Agung Parameswara/Getty Images)

A man watches Israeli Air Force planes fly over the Mediterranean Sea from a beach at Tel Aviv during an aerial show as part of celebrations for Israel's Independence Day to mark the 66th anniversary of the creation of the state, May 6, 2014. (Photo by Nir Elias/Reuters)

“Slow”. A calm cow in the messy streets of Jodhpur. Photo location: India. (Photo and caption by Matthias Troeger/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Miniature spring-wound 35-mm film camera in a modified cigarette pack. The Tessina’s small size and quiet operation provided more options for concealment than most commercially available models. (Photo by Central Intelligence Agency)