Los Angeles native Mike Stilkey has always been attracted to painting and drawing not only on vintage paper, record covers and book pages, but on the books themselves. Using a mix of ink, colored pencil, paint and lacquer, Stilkey depicts a melancholic and at times a whimsical cast of characters inhabiting ambiguous spaces and narratives of fantasy and fairy tales. A lingering sense of loss and longing hints at emotional depth and draws the viewer into their introspective thrall with a mixture of capricious poetry, wit, and mystery. (Photo by Mike Stilkey)

“Muhammed’s work has received many international awards, among others Breaking News Pulitzer Prize of 2005 for covering war in Iraq, POYI, Picture of the year 2007, of Saudi Arabia of the Annual Muslim pilgrimage, best Multimedia of the Annual Israeli photo contest of 2007, honorable mention Atlanta photojournalism seminar of 2008 and photo of the year of the Annual Israeli photo contest of 2008 with two first prizes and two second prizes in different categories, two prizes in the Atlanta photojournalism seminar of 2009, 6 prizes in the Annual Israeli photo contest of 2009”. – Associated Press

A silkmoth that has hatched out of its cocoon is seen at the Campoverde cooperative, Castelfranco Veneto, Italy June 4, 2015. Despite having wings, the adult moth cannot fly. Clusters of silkworms munch on piles of locally-grown mulberry leaves in a white marquee in Italy's northern Veneto region. They are nourishing hopes of a revival of Italy's 1,000 year-old silk industry. (Photo by Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters)

Thailand's badminton player Ratchanok Intanon, who hopes to win gold at the Rio Olympics, receives a massage during a morning training session at a gym in Bangkok, Thailand, June 22, 2016. As the humble daughter of factory workers at a Bangkok sweet-maker, badminton was a ticket out of poverty for Ratchanok Intanon, who hopes winning gold at the Rio Olympics might inspire more Thai girls to chase their dreams. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

A labourer carries a basket of bananas inside a wholesale fruit and vegetable market in Bengaluru, India, August 22, 2016. (Photo by Abhishek N. Chinnappa/Reuters)

A U.S. Army B-24 Liberator Bomber is hailed by a ground crewman as it takes off over a line of shark- nosed fighter planes at an advanced base in China on a mission on October 10, 1943, to bomb Japanese installations. (Photo by AP Photo)

A local resident rests on a bench as Mount Bromo volcano erupts in the background in Ngadisari, Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia January 5, 2016. (Photo by Darren Whiteside/Reuters)

People on inflatable boats enjoy the weather on the Lake Lucerne in Sisikon, Switzerland, August 5, 2018. (Photo by Denis Balibouse/Reuters)