The maid-themed cafe in Hangzhou, China on September 29, 2016. A cafe has been bringing in droves of new customers after hiring young women to dress up in Frech maid costumes while serving diners. Curious coffee- and coffee-lovers are coming from all corners of Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province, to get a taste of the “maid cafe” experience. The business is said to have been opened by a man surnamed Yu and his friends, all whom are natives or graduates of the city. The all-female staff who donned the black and white French maid outfits are also students currenting living or studying in Hangzhou, allowing them to marry their passion for serving with the part-time job. (Photo by AsiaWire)

Erotic members-only club Snctm in Los Angeles, California, USA on January 28, 2017. A masqued black-tie dinner that evolves over the course of the night from amuse bouche to what founder, Damon Lawner, calls “erotic theater”, where female performers. Some guests engage, some engage only with each other (while women can buy a ticket, men cannot attend unless they’re members ($10,000-$50,000), part of a couple, or reserve dinner), and others choose not to touch at all. The monthly event at a Holmby Hills mansion is not a sеx or swingers party, but instead is about exploring the boundaries of what sеx means, and how it inherently makes us all feel. (Photo by Elizabeth Lippman)

“The Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft in the 1960s by the Lockheed Skunk Works. Clarence “Kelly” Johnson was responsible for many of the design's innovative concepts. During reconnaissance missions the SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes to allow it to outrace threats. If a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard evasive action was simply to accelerate and outrun the missile”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A U.S. Air Force SR-71A, also known as the “Blackbird”, is put through it's paces during a test flight over Beale Air Force Base in California. The aircraft is a strategic reconnaissance plane by Lockheed and is the world's fastest and highest flying operational aircraft. (Photo by Getty Images)

In Dougie Wallace’s photos of Mumbai taxis, the chatter, yelling, and constant horns of the city are almost audible. A selection of his images is on show at Gayfield Creative Spaces, Edinburgh, as part of the Retina photography festival until 30 July. For four years, the Glasgow-born Wallace focused his photos on one kind of taxi in particular: the Premier Padmini, a 1960s workhorse painted in black and yellow. Locally known as “Kaali-Peeli”, there were once more than 60,000 of them in the Indian city. But thanks to laws restricting pollution, the cars now are fast disappearing from Mumbai’s streets. (Photo by Dougie Wallace/The Guardian)

“Born in 1965 at Tokyo, living at Tokyo. Starting shooting since 2008. 2011: 1x Photo Awards Honorable Mention (Street). 2012: Black and White Spider Awards 2nd Place (Portrait), Honorable Mention (Fashion); PX3 Gold Awards (Press); Israel Harvanism Street Contest 1st Place. 2013: Urban Picnic Street Contest Top30 Finalist; PX3 3rd Place (Portrait), Gold (Portrait - Personality), Gold (Press - People/Personality); Photolux + PhotoVogue Photo Contest 1st Place. 2014: Sony World Photography Awards Commended (Smile Category)”. – Tatsuo Suzuki. Photo: “Spring”. (Photo by Tatsuo Suzuki)

A passenger waits after his train arrived in Nouadhibou, Mauritania’s second largest city and the main export port for the country’s iron ore industry, on June 25, 2014. The mining company’s employees proudly call their firm the lung of their nation's economy and the train that ferries the ore to the coast stretches some two kilometres, making it one of the world's longest. SNIM mines black iron ore in the northern town of Zouerate, a remote desert location which nevertheless attracts people from all over the country looking for work. (Photo by Joe Penney/Reuters)

In this photograph taken on February 15, 2021, doctor Sergen Saracoglu (L) and nurse Yilzdiz Ayten (C) from the Bahcesaray public hospital vaccination team, arrive at the village of Guneyyamac in eastern Turkey, as part of an expedition to vaccinate residents of 65 years old or above with Sinovac's CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine. (Photo by Bulent Kilic/AFP Photo)

Jorge, an immigrant from Mexico, dressed as the Sesame Street character Elmo rests in Times Square, New York July 29, 2014. Elmo and Cookie Monster have long delighted young viewers on TV's “Sesame Street”, but the recent antics of New York street performers dressed as the beloved characters have drawn the ire of city officials and now the show's producers. Sesame Workshop, which owns the rights to Big Bird, Ernie and the assorted puppet monsters on the 45-year-old program, said on July 29, 2014 it was drafting plans to stop performers who dress up as the characters from appearing in Times Square, where they pose for photos with tourists and then demand tips. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)