First place, The Beauty of Plants. “There are many stages of lotus growth on display at the Aquatic Gardens, but to come across twotwisted dancing stems of nelumbo nucifera was unexpected and quite magical”. (Photo by Kathleen Furey/The Guardian)

Participants carry a portable shrine, or mikoshi, into the sea during a purification rite at the annual Kurihama Sumiyoshi Shrine Festival at Kurihama, Yokosuka city, south of Tokyo Sunday, July 27, 2025. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)

Marcelo Maragni was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil. According to his mother’s idea, he was ment to be an architect in a quest of changing the world. Instead, he preferred to take possession of his father’s camera and learn another craft on his own.

A woman carries her child, both wearing traditional red clothes celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year in Bangkok February 19, 2015. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

A woman poses on the flooded St. Mark's square during an acqua-alta (high-water) alert in Venice, on November 19, 2013. (Photo by Andrea Pattaro/AFP Photo)

P.S. All pictures, as usual, 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 (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews).

“Beryl Cook, (10 September 1926 – 28 May 2008) was an English artist best known for her original and instantly recognisable paintings of people enjoying themselves in pubs,girls shopping or out on a hen night. Drag shows or a family picnicing by the seaside or abroad – tangoing in Buenos Aires or gambling in Las Vegas. She had no formal training and did not take up painting until middle age”. – Wikipedia. Photo: “Ladies Night”, 1991. Artwork by Beryl Cook.

Teara Bryant (R), 24, enjoys a bar on South Beach during Spring Break in Miami, Florida, U.S., March 25, 2021. (Photo by Yana Paskova/Reuters)

A woman rides an electric bicycle on her way as she wears a sunscreen mask towards off strong ultraviolet rays in Fuyang, China on August 14, 2022. The Central Meteorological Observatory of China issued a high-temperature red warning. It is expected that the maximum temperature in some parts of China will reach above 40°C on August 14. (Photo by Sheldon Cooper/SOPA Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)