“Eye of a toad”. Animal Portraits, Łukasz Bożycki, Poland. Early spring sees a pond near Łukasz’s home city of Warsaw, Poland, full of mating frogs and a few toads. On this March day, Łukasz shared the pond with them for an evening, sitting in the icy water in his chest-high waders, keeping as still as possible, despite the numbing cold, so that the amphibians could get used to him. “I wanted to find a fresh way of portraying the amphibians”, he says, “at water level”. Using a telephoto lens, he focused on one lone toad and waited for the sun to dip almost below the horizon before pressing the shutter, using flash to bring out the details in the shadow. His prize was “the glorious pool of sunset colour” and fiery glow of the toad’s eye. Nikon D80 + 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 lens + extension tube; 1/125 sec at f9 (-2.3 e/v); ISO 100; built-in flash. (Photo by Łukasz Bożycki)

Cristine Angelie Garcia (C), 24, rides a jeepney on her way to work at a call centre for the midnight shift in Taguig city, Metro Manila, Philippines October 3, 2016. “Maybe there is another way where people do not need to die”, she said, adding she felt safer walking the streets at night. “I'm on Duterte's side. Maybe he's just misunderstood because he grew up on the streets”. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Reuters)

A student gets off a police vehicle which carried her to a high school to arrive in time for a college entrance exam in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, November 18, 2021. About 510,000 high school seniors and graduates across the country are expected to take the College Scholastic Ability Test. (Photo by Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo)

Children wearing cardboard lion dance masks walk along a street in Beijing on January 13, 2023. China has announced its first overall population decline in recent years amid an aging society and plunging birthrate. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

In this November 30, 2017 photo, Douglas scoops up mud from the bottom of the polluted Guaire River, in search of gold and anything valuable he can sell, in Caracas, Venezuela. Some stretches of the river smell of sewer while others emit a toxic odor of fuel, a stench that stays in ones nose for hours after leaving the water. (Photo by Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo)

This picture taken on June 1, 2019 shows Alex Gao trying to balance a book on his head during an etiquette and manners class in central Shanghai. Against a soundtrack of classical music, children learn social skills, dining manners and deportment in the class, which costs $390 for four hours of practical instruction per student. (Photo by Hector Retamal/AFP Photo)

Locals push a freezer after looting it from a shop, believed to be owned by a foreigner, during service delivery protests in Mohlakeng, west of Johannesburg, February 4, 2015. Local media reported that violence broke out on Wednesday morning when locals barricaded roads and burnt tyres during a service delivery protest. (Photo by Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters)

An Orthodox activist (Right) clashes with a gay rights campaigner during a protest outside of the State Duma, Russian Parliament's lower chamber, in downtown Moscow, January 22, 2013. (Photo by Ilya Pitalev/RIA Novosti)