A government awareness poster for wearing surgical masks is seen reflected and upside-down in the Dambovita river in Bucharest, Romania, 19 November 2020. The poster, depicting a man wearing a surgical mask, reads: “I WEAR A MASK BECAUSE I KNOW THAT ONLY TOGETHER WE WILL SUCCEED!”. As the number of COVID-19 infections increased, authorities decided that wearing a protective mask should become mandatory at all times in all public places. (Photo by Robert Ghement/EPA/EFE)

Bouwe Brouwer: Postcards from Fryslân (series finalist). “People from Fryslân are looked upon by the rest of the Netherlands as stubborn people. Going back as far as the Spanish occupation, they have a history of resisting authority. Postcards from Fryslân is still an ongoing project – hopefully a lifelong one. When it started, it represented only a collection of places that seemed interesting. Currently, the hope is to cover most of the province, as you never know in advance where the best narratives are. But still, it is all candid, unposed and in the public realm”. (Photo by Bouwe Brouwer/Street Photographers Awards 2021)

October winner. “A burst of the aurora borealis over Kirkjufell, taken in September 2016. This shot has been a holy grail for me and was finally captured after many trips”. MICK RYAN, JUDGE: Iceland is a hotspot for aurora photography and this composition of the symmetric, free-standing Kirkjufell and the trident waterfall is much-sought after. If you can time your visit when the aurora “kp” index is high and know the settings for nighttime aurora images, you may end up with a beautiful photograph like this. (Photo by DВ/The Guardian)

Revelers look at a cellphone during the annual street block party know as “Explode Coracao” on the third day of Carnival on February 19, 2023 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. According to the São Paulo City Council, during Carnival week more than 500 street blocks (blocos de rua) are held and more than 15 million people are expected to participate in them. Created in 2017, Explode Coracao is one of the most popular street blocks and attracted 150,000 revelers in its last edition, before the pandemic, in 2020. (Photo by Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images)

Each winter, since 2009, the transport society of Budapest decorates its trams with more than 30 000 sparkling white and blue LED lights for Christmas. If the tram drives fast, it will turn into a wagon made of spurts of lights.

A farmers carries baskets of salt during a harvest in the the salt production process August 13, 2009 in Sumenep on Madura island, Indonesia. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Creative dog grooming is especially popular in Asia, but is becoming more and more prevalent in Europe and the States as well. See some pics of Barkleigh's Creative Styling Contest 2009 (Pasedena, CA).