The Azerbaijan-based artist’s mixed-media installations include pieces entitled “Looking at two cities from one point of view”, “Plastik portret” and “Crisis haha”. Alakbarov carefully positions multicolored acrylic planes, packaging materials, and other objects of assorted shapes and then projects light upon then to create shadow images of beautiful beaches, cities, people, and even words.

Iraqis who have fled fighting between security forces and al-Qaida inspired militants in their hometown of Tal Afar arrive in a car at Germawa camp for displaced Iraqis, in a hot dusty plain in the largely-autonomous Kurdish area of Dahuk, 260 miles (430 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad Tuesday, June 17, 2014. (Photo by AP Photo)

Dancers from Cuba's National Ballet rehearse under the leadership of U.S. choreographer Jessica Lang as they prepare next month's International Ballet Festival in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, September 1, 2022. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)

English actress, television presenter and model Kelly Brook attends the London premiere of Guy Ritchies movie “Snatch” held at the Odeon Leicester Square in London's West End, August 23, 2000. (Photo by Alan Davidson/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A grizzly bear waves its paw at a vehicle on the road to Nemrut Crater Lake in Tatvan district of Bitlis, Turkiye on August 24, 2023. (Photo by Muhammed Selim Korkutata/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

32 year old Mahada Khatum repairs a fishing net outside her home in the Shamalapur Rohingya refugee settlement on April 11, 2014 in Chittagong district, Bangladesh. Some years ago she escaped violence and discrimination from the Zomgara Baharchara village in the Meherulla district of Myanmar. (Photo by Getty Images/Stringer)

Pashtan Wagner, a Blue Oriental Cat participates in the GCCF Supreme Cat Show at National Exhibition Centre on October 28, 2017 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and these striking images of 2017 are no exception. The photo highlights include incredible snapshots of the natural world as well as some awesome animal and human encounters. The vibrant gallery also shows thrill-seekers pushing themselves to the limit with breathtaking stunts captured in perfect clarity. The pictures have been taken by a host of photographers from around the world. Here: The two lion cubs singing their hearts out at Antelope park in Zimbabwe. (Photo by David Jenkins/Caters News Agency)