Dead leaf or almost by Guilhem Duvot. Taken in Nován Stráž, Slovakia. Describe what is pictured? A dead leaf grasshopper. How does this image fit with the theme of the competition? The perfect camouflage – nature is amazing. I saw the grasshopper only because it jumped. (Photo by Guilhem Duvot/Royal Society of Biology)

Charli XCX performs at Hype Hotel on March 17, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Lorne Thomson/Redferns)

British Alex Yee looks exhausted after the men's individual triathlon race at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, on Wednesday 31 July 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Tom Jenkins/The Guardian)

Archer Sheetal Devi from India prepares to fire during the Paralympic Games in Paris on Thursday, August 29, 2024. (Photo by Felix Scheyer/AP Photo)

Czechia's Karolina Muchova plays a shot between her legs to Italy's Jasmine Paolini during their quarterfinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Australia, Friday, January 3, 2025. (Photo by Rick Rycroft/AP Photo)

Sofia Raffaeli, of Italy, performs during the individual all-around final of the European Championships in Rhythmic Gymnastics at the Unibet Arena, Tallinn, Estonia, Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Photo by Sergei Grits/AP Photo)

A giant chrome brushed aluminium skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus (T-Rex) dinosaur , made by French sculptor and painter Philippe Pasqua, stands at the pier of riverboat company Bateaux-Mouches in Paris, with the Eiffel tower in the background.

To produce the images that convey his fatalistic and ironic approach to life, tinged with hope, he needed the environment and knowledge of Mother Russia, oiled with a bit of bribery to certain circus trainers. Enter the Great Russian Bear, the personification of Russia for the last several centuries, onto center stage and into his studio. The bear is recognized as both brutish and cute – Misha was the mascot for the 1980 Olympic Games – and has remained a symbol of Russia since Tsarist times. In 2009 it is the symbol of the United Russia Party.