Afghanistan, published by Taschen later July, is a retrospective portfolio of the Magnum photographer Steve McCurry’s most striking images of the country, from 1979 to 2016. Here: Kunar province, 1980. Armed mujahideen carry animal skins to use as inflatable buoys to cross rapids. (Photo by Steve McCurry/Taschen/Magnum Photos/The Guardian)

In Omdurman, the largest city in Sudan, the Qadiriyya Sufi order meets every Friday outside Sheikh Hamed Al Nil mosque, which houses the tomb of their 19th century Sufi leader. (Photo by Ala Kheir, John Burns and Ibrahim Algrefwi/Brownbook)

A woman poses after she got an image of a lion tattooed on her back as part of awareness campaign to save Asiatic lions and in preparations for the upcoming Navratri festival in Ahmedabad, India, October 5, 2018. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

American singer-songwriter and actress Reneé Rapp gets slimed at the Kids’ Choice Awards on July 13, 2024 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by reneerapp/Instagram)

From rural life in India to a chick growing inside its embryo and a sea turtle eating a purple jellyfish, the Society of Biology has released their stunning photography competition shortlist. Here: “Spectral Tarsier”. Tangkoko, Northern Sulawesi, Indonesia: Spectral tarsier by Wolfgang Weinhardt. (Photo and caption by Wolfgang Weinhardt/UK Society of Biology Photography Award 2014)

“Mountain Goats, Colorado”. A herd of mountain goats huddle together on top of Mount Evans, Colorado during a lightning storm. This photo was selected out of more than 5,000 entries to go on display in “Wilderness Forever: 50 Years of Protecting America’s Wild Places”, a new photo exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, which will run through summer 2015. (Photo by Verdon Tomajko/Smithsonian Wilderness Forever Photo Contest)

A Sadhu or a Hindu holy man offers prayers while sitting inside a circle of burning “Upale” (or dried cow dung cakes) on the occasion to mark the Basant or spring festival, on the banks of river Ganga in the northern Indian city of Allahabad January 24, 2015. Basant is celebrated mainly in the northern Indian states marking the start of the spring season. (Photo by Jitendra Prakash/Reuters)

A tourist takes photos in an open-air studio with a view of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (Photo by Emrah Gurel/AP Photo)