The National Geographic Photo Ark is a travelling exhibition of photographer Joel Sartore’s quest to create a photo archive of biodiversity around the world. So far, Sartore has captured studio portraits of more than 6,000 species – a number that he hopes to double. On 1 July, the ark will open at Melbourne zoo – the first time it has been exhibited in the southern hemisphere. More than 50 portraits will be on display, including many of Australian endangered animals being protected by programs at the zoo itself. These captions have been edited from text supplied by Melbourne zoo. Here: Barking owl. (Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark/The Guardian)

Female North Korean traffic police officers gather in front of bronze statues of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il to pay their respects in Pyongyang, North Korea on Saturday, February 16, 2013. North Koreans turned out to commemorate what would have been the 71th birthday of Kim Jong Il who died on December 17, 2011. (Photo by David Guttenfelder/AP Photo)

Light is the sole reason why life exists. It provides us with warmth; it allows us to see; it nourishes all the living things on this planet. Many painters, especially the masters of Old Renaissance Period, have recognized the importance of light and its intimate connection with nature and life itself. In their paintings they gave tribute to light, giving the impression that their paintings had a light source hidden within them. Al Hogue, the artist who created the paintings that you see before you, has studied their techniques for many years. As time went by, light permeated not only his paintings by also his life, becoming his sole philosophy.

“Show Time”. It's a normal behavior of mantis. They're doing defence. When they're afraid of; raising their arms and spreading their wings. They looks like smiling dancer. Photo location: Nicosia, Cyprus. (Photo and caption by Hasan Baglar/National Geographic Photo Contest)

The eruption of Cordon Caulle began on June 4, 2011, located in the Region of Los Rios in Chile. For about 12 months, people and animals became accustomed to living with the daily fall of ash, which also caused problems in the air traffic in South America. The explosions and lightning during first days of the eruption could be seen from hundreds of miles around. This photograph was taken on the second night of eruption from the town of Lago Ranco. (Photo and caption by Francisco Negroni/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

An infrared portrait from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope which shows generations of stars is seen in this undated NASA handout image released February 14, 2013. In this wispy star-forming region, called W5, the oldest stars can be seen as blue dots in the centers of the two hollow cavities (other blue dots are background and foreground stars not associated with the region). Red shows heated dust that pervades the region's cavities, while green highlights dense clouds. (Photo by NASA/Reuters/JPL-Caltech/Harvard-Smithsonian/Handout)

Roof-topping enthusiast Daniel Lau takes a selfie with high-rise buildings down below as he stands on the top of a skyscraper in Hong Kong, China on August 15, 2017. A craze that began in Russia has now taken hold in Hong Kong, one of the world's most vertical cities. Mr Lau said he had been inspired by Russian climbers and that he was unafraid of the vertiginous heights he scales. (Photo by ImagineChina/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

This undated handout photo received from the Antarctic Ocean Alliance on October 28, 2016 shows a adelie penguin jumping onto the ice in the Ross Sea in Antarctica. The world's largest marine reserve aimed at protecting the pristine wilderness of Antarctica will be created after a “momentous” agreement was finally reached on October 28, 2016 with Russia dropping its long-held opposition. (Photo by John Weller/AFP Photo/Antarctic Ocean Alliance)