Afghan children buy breads from a bakery in Fayzabad of Badakhshan province on February 7, 2024. (Photo by Omer Abrar/AFP Photo)

Traditional dancers with their masks look on before their performance during “Nawa Durga Nach” Hindu dance festival in Bhaktapur on the outskirts of Kathmandu on March 28, 2024. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)

College students play with coloured powder to celebrate the festival of Holi, near Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on March 7, 2023 (Photo by Press Trust of India)

American singer-songwriter Camila Cabello performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, on June 29, 2024. (Photo by Dylan Martinez/Reuters)

Models wear creations as part of the Maccapani men's and women's Spring Summer 2024 collection, unveiled during the Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, Friday, June 16, 2023. (Photo by Antonio Calanni/AP Photo)

A passenger jeepney commutes through a flooded street in Manila on September 5, 2024, caused by heavy rains due to the southwest monsoon influenced by Tropical Storm Yagi which hit the main island of Luzon on September 2. (Photo by Ted Aljibe/AFP Photo)

Jasmine Paolini hits a forehand during her first-round US Open match on Sunday, August 24, 2025 at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Ray Giubilo)

Nine years ago, Tom Carter traveled from San Francisco to China, responding to a job posting that turned out to be a scam. He managed to find another job as a teacher, and saved enough money to embark on a 56,000 km trip through all of China's 33 provinces that lasted two years. Carrying a camera – just a a 4-megapixel point-and-shoot – Carter captured some amazing images of the widely varying landscape, people, and architecture across the nation. Photo: Buddhist pilgrim family from Sichuan. (Photo by Tom Carter via The Atlantic)